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GRANDMAMMA'S 



LETTERS FROM JAPAN. 



GRANDMAMMA'S 



Letters from Japan. 



BY 



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MRS. MARY PRUYN. 







BOSTON: 
JAMES H. EARLE, PUBLISHER, 

20 HAWLEY STREET. 
1877. 

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Copyright 

By James H. Earle, 

1876. 



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Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
19 Spring Lane. 



CONTENTS. 



I. 

PAGK 

Twelve Hundred Miles at Sea, — Ship and Passengers. 
— Chinese Servants, —The Prayers of Children. . 17 

11. 

Safe Arrival at Yokohama, —Sabbath Morning. — How --^ 
the Japanese spend the Day. — The Children. — 
Their Good-Nature and Kindness 21 

III. 
A Typhoon. — Little Carrie. — Her Trust in Jesus. , 26 

IV. 

Children and Young Ladies coming to the Home in 
Yokohama. — The People anxious to Learn. — Jap- 
anese Images. — Temple Customs. — Georgie. . 29 



Variety of Work. — Necessity for a Larger Building. 
More Teachers needed. — First Native Prayer Meet- 
ing in Japan, — Eddie and Annie 37 

VI. 

Saving Pennies. — Japanese New Year. — How it is 
Observed. — Kites and Dolls. — Decoration of the 
Houses. — Japanese Religious Ceremonies. . . 44 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

VII. 

Nona. — Her Father and Mother. — Her Sad Child- 
hood. — Her Temper. — Learning to Sing. — A 
Sweet Picture. . . 56 

VIII. 

Anniversary of Leaving Home. — Excursion across 
the Bay. — A Japanese Boat. — An Unexpected Bath. 

— A Lesson. — The First Visit of a Foreign Lady. 

— Riding in a Norimon. — Rice Culture. — Train- 
ing Pear-Trees. — Sakuma. — His House. — Beauti- 
ful Grounds. — Strange Customs. — Queer Dishes. 60 

IX. 

Every-Day Blessings. — A Great Religious Festi- 
val. — ^* Big Sunday." — Chinese Burying-Ground. 

— Strange Ceremonies. — A Sad Sight. . . 71 

X. 

The Children in Japan. — Great Number. — Excellent 
Natural Traits. — Sufferings and Trials. — Singular 
Way of Carrying Babies. — The Children's Need of 
Sympathy and Help. — Bertie's Request. . • .81 

XI. 

The Servants. — Their Family Altar. —The first one 
there for two Thousand Years. — Against the Law. 

— Shonoski leads. — Charlie 92 

XII. " ^-^^ 

Our Visit to Sakuma, continued. — Curious Beds. — 
Sleeping and Eating on the same Blankets. — Mount 
Karnozan. — Thunder-Storm. — A Night on the 
Mountain. — Meeting at Sakuma's 98 



CONTENTS. 



XIII. 



Sending away the Little Bojs. — A Sad Day. — An- 
nie. — ** That is very Sweet." . . . . . 107 

XIV. 

Earthquakes. — Effect on the Houses. — A Terrified 
Group. — Safe in Jesus' Care 113 

XV. 

The Little Folks' Picnic. — The Grounds. — Tea-Ta- 
ble. — Games. — A Good Time. . . . .119 

XVL 

Shidzooka. — Visit to an Old Temple. — Riding in the 
Jin-ri-ki-sha. — Great Rush to see the Foreign 
Lady. — A Beautiful but Troublesome Present. — 
Japanese Music. — Native Ladies. . . . . 126 

XVII. 

The Children's Bazaar. — Gifts from America. — A 
Happy Time 138 

XVIII. 

The two dear Homes. — Minnie. — Her Prayer-Meeting. 142 

XIX. 

Christmas in Yol^ohama — Christmas Tree. — Pop- 
ping Corn. — A Merry Company. — A Little Girl 
in Albany, and her Fair 145 

XX. 

Grandma enjoys Writing. — One of the Girls. — Vis- 
its a Sick Father. — Sings and prays. — The Fa- 
ther reforms. — Playing Tea-Party. . . . 150 



lO CONTENTS. 

XXI. 

To the Members of the Albany Industrial Schools. — 
The First Sunday School in Japan. — How it is Con- 
ducted. — Gifts appreciated. ..... 155 

XXII. 
Hakone. — A Delightful Summer Resort. — Japan >^' 
Houses. — Gardens. — An Excited Crowd. — A Bright 
Side. — Telling the People of the True God. . . 162 

XXIII. 

To the Sunday School Children. — The First Free 
School in Japan. — The School-House. — Dwelling 
House. — O'Sono. — Practical Results. . . . 169 

XXIV. 

A Little "Kittie." — A Happy Father. — ** Large 
Thanks." . .181 

XXV. 

** The Fabulous History of Japan." — Interesting Tra- 
ditions. 1S7 

XXVI. 

A Mountain Trip. — Riding in an Lnproved Kago. — 
Caught in the Rain. — An Exciting Experience. . 193 

XXVII. 

Death of Kittie. — Her Christian Burial. — A Valua- 
ble Lesson. — A Bed-room in the Home. . . 203 

XXVIII. 

Vacation. — Sea-side Resort. — A Kind Host — Sing- 
ing Sacred Hymns 209 

XXIX. 

Last Letter from Japan. — The Home and School es- 
tablished. — Lines by Miss M. G. Brainard. . . 217 



PREFACE. 



I NOT only love and believe in children, but 
I have something of a prophetic spirit with 
reference to their future influence, and I often 
find myself looking forward with earnest ex- 
pectancy to results which shall be achieved 
through their faith and love. 

I look back to my own childhood days, and 
remember with what avidity I seized and im- 
proved the few opportunities I had for gaining 
instruction concerning missionary work ; and 
I recall most vividly the earnest desires awak- 
ened, even when a little child, to be permitted 
to go and tell the heathen about Jesus. For 
forty years, those desires could find their only 
outlet in work among the children, the poor, 
and the outcast at home ; then God called me, 
so distinctly that I could not doubt it was His 
voice, to go forth to a heathen land, and carry 
out into practical effect those early longings 



12 PREFACE. 

of my heart; but I have constantly felt that 
the impulse given to my mind before I was ten 
years old was the beginning of my prepara- 
tion for the new and arduous but delightful 
work given me to do, when more than half a 
century of years had passed over my head. 

When I left my home, I knew that not only 
in its loved circle, but in Sabbath and Indus- 
trial schools, there were many dear children 
who followed me with warm and loving in- 
terest, and to whom the missionary cause 
assumed a new significance because of my 
connection with it ; and I was often cheered by 
the little messengers that came from them in 
my far-off island home, saying, "We pray for 
you and your work." It was pleasant recrea- 
tion to send back to them occasional letters, 
not only to assure them of my love and re- 
membrance, but to give them such information 
concerning the people and the country of 
Japan, as should excite their sympathy, and 
encourage them to some practical efforts to 
help in the good work there. 

The letters were generally written hurriedly, 
and without the faintest idea that other eyes 
than those to whom they were addressed 
would ever see them. There is no attempt at 



1 



PREFACE. 13 

order, or thoroughness in them, and they were 
usually suggested by some passing incident. 
Certainly there is no merit in them, beyond 
their truthfulness and simplicity. Yet in look- 
ing them over, it has been rather urgently 
suggested by kind and perhaps partial friends 
that they contain many things that would 
interest Sabbath-school children, and might 
serve to give some minds the same impulses 
that so early stirred my own. 

With the consent of the little folks to whom 
they were written, — the most of them my 
grandchildren, — I have gathered up some of 
those letters, and in precisely the simple and 
familiar style in which they were written to 
my own dear little ones, I send them out to 
the children of our Sabbath schools and 
Christian families. 

When I was quite a little child I was taken 
to New York, and while there accompanied 
my brother to a great Fair of the American 
Institute, held in what was then a very fash- 
ionable place, called Niblo's Garden. Upon a 
large table stood a fine glass case, around 
which many persons were gathered, all anx- 
ious to see the wonderful things it contained. 
My brother made inquiries of many persons, 



14 PREFACE. 

but all he could learn was this : " Far off in 
some part of the world there was a place 
called Japan. No one could tell anything 
about the country, or the people, except they 
were ver}" strange, and only once a year 
would allow a few Dutch traders to come 
there and buy some of their curious goods." 
In that case were some of their beautiful 
things, brought away by some Dutchmen, and 
sold to an American merchant, who was ex- 
hibiting them as great curiosities that had 
come all the way from that strange and almost 
unknown land. What a change has come 
since that day ! I suppose not one of the dear 
children who may read these letters is as igno- 
rant now as the wise and grown-up men were 
when my brother questioned them. Japan is 
now our nearest heathen neighbor, and trav- 
ellers from our country, and from all lands, 
are constantly going there to see for them- 
selves the strange people, and the wondrously 
beautiful country. The rich and elegant 
wares from Japan are freely sold to any one 
who desires them, and have found their way 
into the homes of wealth and refinement in 
every civilized land, while the history of the 
country has become so incorporated in the 



PREFACE. 15 

text-books of our schools, that even our little 
children are becoming familiar with it. 

But more, and far better. Christian people 
are to-day doing all they can to give the pre- 
cious gospel to that nation, and God has so 
blessed their efforts that already churches 
and Sabbath schools are springing up all over 
the country. May He speed the time when 
the Bible shall be there, as it is in our own 
beloved land, the foundation of a true religious 
liberty, and when all the children of Japan 
shall grow up in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

And may He grant His blessing upon this 
little book, so that these simple letters may go 
to the hearts of many American children as 
His message, calling some of them to go work 
in that part of His vineyard, and awakening 
in all of them some earnest desires to have a 
part in the labor at home, by which others 
shall be sent to establish in those beautiful 
islands the kingdom of our glorious King. 

M. P. 

Albany, N. Y., August, 1876. 



GRANDMAMMA'S 

LETTERS FROM JAPAN. 



I. 

Twelve Hundred Miles at Sea, 
June 6, 1871. 

To MY DEAR Little Folks at Home, — 
Mary, Bertie, and Kittie : 

I just wish you could look at me as I 
sit here in this beautiful cabin of the good 
ship Japan, and feel with me the pure, 
fresh sea-air, as it blows so cool and de- 
lightful over me; or if you could go with 
me out on the deck, and look over the 
great Pacific Ocean, on which we are sail- 
ing, how you would wonder! 

Can you think of being in a place where 
you can see nothing but water? If I go to 
I 17 



1 8 grandmamma's letters. 

one end of the ship^ and look away off as 
far as I can see, there is only water; if I 
go to the other end, it is just the same : 
water all around us, and sky all above us. 
No trees; no houses; no people, except 
those on the ship with us. This ship is a 
very large one, and has people enough on 
it now to make a good-sized village, but 
it does not seem at all crowded. 

There are a good many little children 
with us, and I think the captain must be 
very fond of little people, for he has put up 
a nice swing on the upper deck for them, 
and seems pleased to see them happy and 
playful. But it is a very long time for 
them to be shut up in one place; it will 
be three weeks before the ship will reach 
Japan, and it is pretty hard to be con- 
tented and quiet so long, — do not you 
think so? 

All the waiters and servants are a 



CHINESE SERVANTS. I9 

strange-looking people. They come from 
China^ which is a country very far away — 
even farther than Japan is from America. 
I am sure you would laugh to see them, 
they are so odd. They are all men, but 
they do women's work just as nicely as 
though they wore dresses. All the hair 
is shaved off their heads, except a small 
round spot on the top; that is allowed 
to grow very long, and in with it they 
braid a large quantity of coarse black 
sewing-silk, so that when it is newly 
fixed it makes a long, glossy braid that 
hangs down nearl}^ to their heels. 

It is curious to see thirty or forty of 
these fellows running about, waiting upon 
the table, with these long tails swinging 
and flying around, every step they take! 
Then they Avear the queerest kind of 
shoes, that turn up at the toes, and look 
just like little boats on their feet; with 



20 grandmamma's letters. 

long white stockings and short blue 
pants. ... I cannot tell you all the won- 
derful things I am seeing since I came 
from home, but I think you will hear a 
good deal from my other letters, and I 
will try and write to you before very long. 
Now there is something I want you to 
do for me. Every time you pray at night, 
I want you to ask God to help me do a 
great deal for the little children of Japan, 
so they may learn to love Him, as I think 
you do. You know these poor children 
have never heard of our dear Lord Jesus, 
and they do not know how good He is, 
nor how much He loves them. This is 
what I want to teach them, and you can 
pray for me. I know God hears little 
children, and it will make me very happy 
to be sure that you pray for His blessing. 
Ever your loving 

Grandmother. 



SABBATH MORNING. 21 



My dear Mary: 



11. 

Yokohama, July 2, 1871. 



This is Sabbath morning with us, but 
in Albany it is only Saturday evening, 
for you know we are in the East, though 
I came west to reach here, which seems 
very strange, — does it not? Some time 
I will explain this to you; or you can 
ask your papa to tell you how it is. But, 
an}^ way, I cannot think of you now as 
getting ready to go to Sunday school, as 
you would be, I hope, on the precious 
Sabbath morning. When our evening 
comes, and our time for going to bed 
arrives, then I will think you are in Sun- 
day school, and learning something more 



22 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

about Jesus and God's holy word. When 
I think of ray dear children at home, and 
all their comforts and privileges, it makes 
me sad to look upon the children in this 
heathen city, and see how different is 
their life, without the Bible or the knowl- 
edge of our dear Jesus. 

It seems very strange to me here on 
the Sabbath. There are a few Christians, 
who have come from other countries, and 
they keep God's holy day; but none of 
the native people know anything about 
His command " Remember the Sabbath- 
day to keep it holy," and most of those 
who have come from Christian lands are 
so wicked that they do not care any 
more for it than the heathen do; and so 
there is very little difference here between 
this and any other day. The people all 
keep their stores open; they go out with 
their boats to fish; they work in their 



JAPANESE SABBATH. 23 

fields and gardens/ and carry things about 
to sell, just as they do on other days. O, 
it makes me so sorry, and I would so 
love to tell them of our dear Father in 
heaven, v^ho has given us the Sabbath 
for our happiness! but they speak such 
a strange language, I cannot talk w^ith 
them, or make them understand anything 
about it. Some good men are v^orking 
very hard to put the Bible into the Jap- 
anese language, and v^hen that is done, 
they can read of Jesus, and w^hat God, 
the true God, would have them do. 

There are so many little children here, 
and, O, I do pray that before they grow 
up, the Bible will be all ready for them, 
for I want them to become Christian men 
and women, and not idolaters as their 
parents are! The children here are the 
best-natured and most contented and hap- 
py little things I ever saw; though I am 



24 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

sure you would wonder how they could 
be, if you should see them. If you 
had to live in such poor little houses, 
wear such poor, miserable clothes, or 
perhaps not wear any, as is the case with 
many of them, you would think it very 
hard. But they do not seem to mind it, 
and play about all day without crying or 
quarrelling at all. I have never seen any 
of them that even looked as if they felt 
cross: do you not think little Christian 
children could learn something from them 
in this? I do; and I am sure I could 
not wish my little folks to be more kind 
and pleasant with each other than are 
these heathen children. 

You know we are going to have a 
school to teach the children and young 
girls to read, and about our Godj and 
yesterday a gentleman said to me, " Such 
a school will be a god-send to these peo- 



THE SCHOOL. 25 

pie;'' and that is just what I think too: 
God did send us here, and I am sure He 
will help us to do them good. Some 
time I will tell you about their houses, 
and dress, and playthings; but this is all 
to-day from 

Grandma. 



26 grandmamma's letters. 



III. 

Yokohama, Aug. 26, 1871. 
My dear Grandchildren : 

I have written to mamma all about our 
moving into this house, and what a ter- 
rible storm we had just after we got here: 
these storms are called typhoons^ and are 
very frequent in the East during the sum- 
mer and fall; but I want to tell you a 
little incident connected with it, which I 
think will interest you. 

I have mentioned that little Carrie and 

Annie B came to stay with us while 

their papa and mamma went up on the 
mountains; and on that morning, when 
the storm became so very violent, we 
could not stop for our morning prayers 



Carrie's trust. 27 

or breakfast: yet we all felt that our only 
hope of safety was in God's power to keep 
us from harm. As I went into my room 
for something, I saw dear little Carrie on 
her knees. I passed out quietly, but in a 
few moments she came to me and said, — 

^^We did not have prayers this morn- 
ing." 

^^ No/' I replied, ^^ we could not stop, 
on account of the storm; but you know 
we can pray while we are working, and 
I have a good many times asked God to 
take care of us." 

^^Yes," she said, ^^ I know that; but I 
had no work to do, so I went and prayed; 
and I told God He was the only One who 
could help us, and I asked Him for 
Chrisfs sake to do it. Then I told Jesus 
He had promised that anything' we 
asked for His sake should be done, and 
/ know He will do itP 



28 grandmamma's letters. 

Was it not very sweet? I hope you 
will remember this. How much that little 
child's faith had to do with our preser- 
vation during that awful storm, who can 
tell? . . . 

From your loving 

Grandmamma. 



GOOD NEWS. 29 



IV. 

Yokohama, Nov. 2, 1871. 
Dear Mary, Bertie, and Kittie : 

If I could write all I think, you would 
have a great many very long letters from 
grandma ; but then I am afraid you 
would get tired reading them, and so 
perhaps it is better for your mamma to 
read some of her letters to you, and by 
them you will know w^hat is going on 
away off here in Japan. To-day I am 
going to tell you some good news, which 
I am sure you will be glad to hearj and 
that is, we have now quite a number of 
little children in our family, and a few 
young ladies; besides, there are a good 
many young men who come to this house 
every day to study English. 



30 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

The people here are very anxious to 
learn our language^ and they will do any- 
thing to get such knowledge; and though 
they do not 3^et care about our religion^ 
they are very willing to read in the Bible 
when they are here. This makes us all so 
glad, for we know that God's Word con- 
tains the true wisdom, and if they read it, 
they must learn something of our God, 
and how good and loving He is; and 
then we feel sure they will not want to 
worship any longer their ugly wooden and 
stone gods. 

It seems very strange that any people 
can believe that such hideous old images 
as their gods are, can do anything for 
them. I went to an old temple, the other 
day, that is about six hundred years old, — 
older than our country, a great deal, — 
and I wish I had time to write 3"ou of 
all the strange old things I saw there. I 



STRANGE SIGHTS. 3I 

will tell you of a few. First, — and what 
pained me most, — the greatest crowd of 
all kinds of people thronged about us as 
we went through the street in the old 
town of Kanagawa. It is not very often 
they see a foreigner, and they are so curi- 
ous whenever one comes among them. 
They were so dirty, and had so little 
clothing on, that I did not like to look at 
them. Then so many of the children were 
all covered with sores : O, it was pitiful ! 

As we went up to the temple, we passed 
under a large stone gateway, or Tori, 
which is always placed before all their 
temples. Then on each side of the build- 
ing, on the outside, are two large wooden 
images, which are placed there as guar- 
dians of the gods. Is it not a strange 
idea that gods need to be guarded? These 
figures are the most horrid-looking crea- 
tures you can imagine. They are always 



32 grandmamma's letters. 

made sixteen feet high, and painted a 
bright red. They have their eyes star- 
ing wide, and their mouths open, showing 
their teeth, and altogether look so hideous 
and ferocious that I do not wonder they 
think evil spirits are afraid to come near 
them. 

When the people go to the temple to 
pray, they carry with them some small 
pieces of paper, which they get from 
the priests, and on which are written a 
few characters. When they come near 
these images, they chew one of these 
papers up into a small ball, and throw it 
at the ^^ guardian.'' If it sticks fast, then 
they believe the gods in the temple will 
hear their prayers, and they go in; and 
after putting a few cash, or pennies, into 
the box near the door, they go up to the 
altar and pray before the gods. If these 
little balls fall off, they think it is no use 



INSIDE THE TEMPLE. 33 

to pray that day, and so they do not go 
in. Those figures I saw before the tem- 
ple were all covered over with these lit- 
tle ^"^ spit-balls/' and I was told that some- 
times the priest has to go to work and 
scrape them all off, to make room for 
more. 

Inside the temple there were more gods 
than I could count, and many of the al- 
tars looked very much like those you can 
see in the Catholic churches in Albany. 
Indeed, there is a great deal in the wor- 
ship of these idolaters that is so nearly 
like the Romish church, that one could 
almost believe they were the same. One 
thing is peculiar here. The floors are all 
covered over with white mats, and there 
are no seats. The Japanese do not use 
any chairs, and at home, and in their 
temples, sit right Upon the floor. 

There are no Sundays for them, but 

3 



34 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

they have what they call ^^Matsuris/' or 
Festival days^ and then every one is ex- 
pected to go to their own temple, give a 
little money, and say some prayers; be- 
sides this, all the temples have a good 
many priests, who live in them, and are 
always ready to say prayers for any who 
come there. So that there is no time when 
there are not priests and people in the 
temple. No one is allowed to go in with 
shoes on their feet, so we had to sit on 
the outside steps and take ours off. 

But my letter is getting so long that I 
must not tell you any more, except a short 
story about ^^ Georgie," one of our little 
boys. He is a very quiet, gentle little fel- 
low, eight years old. He is one of the very 
brightest scholars we have, and is learn- 
ing to understand and speak English very 
rapidly. As I write, I hear him singing, 
quite correctl}^, " I am glad Fm in this 



GEORGIE AND HIS MOTHER. 35 

army." You can scarcely imagine how 
much I enjoy listening to these dear chil- 
dren as they sing in the midst of their 
play, and at all times, snatches of our 
sweet Sunday-school hymns. Georgie's 
father died, and left him, with his little 
brother, who is also with us, to the care 
of their heathen mother. She is very glad 
to have them here, and seems quite proud 
to have them learn so readily; but still 
she wants them to worship her gods, and 
never loses an opportunity to teach them 
to do so. A short time ago she came 
here and brought some of those little 
pieces of paper of which I have written. 
She told Georgie he must go to the tem- 
ple to pray, and use them there. Until 
he came here, he had never known there 
was a better v/ay to pray; but when she 
gave those papers to him, he said noth- 
ing, but walking very quietly to the other 



36 grandmamma's letters. 

end of the veranda, he tore them all up 
into small bits, and then turning to Ed- 
die, who stood near, he said, ^^ I am going 
to pray to the true God.'' He wanted 
to obey his mother, but he could not 
dishonor the true God. 

You cannot think how these little things 
rejoice my heart. I think they ought to 
make the friends at home feel that the 
bread they are casting upon these waters 
is found without waiting ^^ many days." 
And this is some of the ^^good news'' I 
told you I was going to write. I hope 
you will thank God for all He is doing; 
and that He may keep and bless my 
dear children awa}'^ off in America, is the 
constant prayer of your 

Grandmother. 



UNEXPECTED DEMANDS. 37 



To THE Teachers and Scholars of the 
First Reformed S. S., Albany : 

Yokohama, Jan. 7, 1872. 

Dear Friends: I thought we were com- 
ing to Japan to work for little children, 
and when I last talked with you, this was 
our intention and desire; yet we were 
willing to do anything God gave us to 
do. There is plenty of that kind of work 
to do, and yet it is a little strange; and 
if we were not so sure that God is lead- 
ing us in His way, we might be troubled, 
that we cannot seem to get at it, while 
other work is crowding upon us. We 
have been only four months in this house, 
and yet in that time it is incredible how 



38 grandmamma's letters. 

many of these poor heathen have found 
their way here, and come asking for in- 
struction. One of our ladies has made 
considerable progress in the language, and 
is able to teach them, partly in English 
and partly in Japanese. More than thirty, 
men, women, boys, and girls, come here 
daily, and more than the same number 
we have been compelled to deny. It is 
very hard to do this, when they beg to 
be allowed to come and " study the Holy 
Book," but one person cannot do more 
than our dear Mrs. P is doing. 

Then we all feel that we should con- 
fine our efforts more exclusively to the 
women and girls, as the most proper and 
hopeful class for us to labor for. 

Beside this, our house is very unsuita- 
ble for a large school, and we must have 
better accommodations to work to advan- 
tage; and just here, dear friends, is where 



NEW BUILDING NEEDED. 39 

I want you to feel is your opportunity 
to aid in this good cause. To procure 
the land, and build such a house as we 
need, will cost a great deal of money; 
but when we have a suitable dwelling, 
we can do a vast deal more than is pos- 
sible now. We have had several appli- 
cations to take young girls, and even ladies, 
but were obliged to refuse for the want 
of room. 

More than this, we want more teach- 
ers. We want you to send some more 
ladies, who can be learning the language, 
and be ready to teach these people when 
the government changes the laws, and 
will allow them to learn, without the 
fear of punishment. They must do this 
soon, for the people are beginning to see 
and feel the injustice of these laws, and 
will not submit to them much longer. 
The bold and courageous do not regard 



40 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

them very much now, and are pressing 
up and onward to the light; yet there are 
many timid ones, and they are waiting, 
secretly longing for the time to come. 
The missionaries and Christian people 
here, feel that it is very important to be 
prepared for this liberty, and hence we 
desire that there be many more here to 
study the language. 

I must not forget to tell you, that with- 
in the last few weeks a prayer-meeting 
has been commenced in our house, by a 
few natives who come here on Sabbath 
evenings, at first to learn to sing; and 
that now for the first time in the history 
of this ancient empire, native Japanese 
pray together, and exhort one another, 
and that too with native women present. 
Nor must I omit to tell you, that those 
who come here daily for instruction have 
nearly all learned the Lord's Prayer, and 



THE HOME CHILDREN. 4I 

repeat it at the opening of the school: 
and, better yet, several have asked to have 
a short prayer w^ritten for them, v^hich 
they translate into their language, and 
offer in their own homes. 

But I must tell you something of the 
dear little children who live in our home 
with us. We have five; and although 
they knew nothing of the dear Saviour, 
and had never been taught to pray, or sing 
His praise, yet I am sure it would de- 
light your hearts, as it does mine, to hear 
them now. I think you will feel as I do, 
that we have cause to praise God, that in 
less than three months these dear chil- 
dren have learned to sing, ^^ There is a 
happy land,'' '^^ Jesus loves me; "can join 
in asking a blessing at the table, and re- 
peat every morning and evening a little 
prayer we wrote for them, besides trying 
to say, ^^ Our Father who art in heaven." 



42 GRANDMAMMA S LETTERS. 

It made me so happy the other day to 
have one of our little girls tell me that 
Eddie had said, they must pray aloud in 
their rooms with each other; that he had 
begun, and they were to take their turn 
each morning. 

In my lot, in the Albany Cemetery, is 
a little monument, on which is engraved 
the words " Eddie and Annie." Is it not 
a little singular that tHe two first heathen 
children committed to my care bear these 
names in the same order? My own pre- 
cious ones 

" Have gone into that school 
Where they no longer 
Need my poor protection, 
And Christ himself doth rule." 

Has He not sent these dear little ones 
to me, to be trained for the same blessed 
school? I believe He has, and it is a 
joy to me to hear them repeat over and 



WORK FOR ALL. 43 

over again, the first English words they 
learned to utter, ^^ God is Love." 

And now, dear fi:'iends and children, I 
hope I have told you enough to make you 
feel that it is not only a duty, but a great 
privilege to help in giving the gospel to 
these people, and in building a house 
where many can be gathered in, and 
trained up in the fear and love of God. 
I am always yours. 

In Christ's service, 

Mary Pruyn. 



44 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



VI. 

Yokohama, Feb. 26, 1872. 
My DEAR LITTLE FoLKS AT HoME: 

As mamma and papa are away off in 
Georgia, I suppose I must consider yozi 
the family now, and send you a very big 
letter. ... I am so glad to hear that you 
are trying to be such helpful children, 
and it pleased me very much to know 
that you are all so willing to deny your- 
selves candy, and many little things that 
children love so well, that you may have 
more pennies to put in your ^' mite boxes.'' 
We expect to build a large house soon, 
which w^ll cost a great deal of money, 
and then we will want a good deal more 
to furnish it nicely; but I think if you, and 



JAPANESE NEW YEAR. 45 

all the little friends in America^ could 
see the little Japanese children who come 
here every day to school^ you would love 
them, and think it a great pleasure to 
help get a nice house and school-room 
for them. They are not handsome, and 
they look very odd, but they are very 
quiet and obedient, and they all see^m so 
anxious to learn, that it is no trouble to 
take care of them, or to make them study. 
But I want to tell you in this letter 
something about the Japanese New Year, 
which is just past, for you see they do 
not have it the same time we do. You 
will think this very strange, but then you 
must remember that for hundreds of 
years this country has been so shut up, 
that no one knew what was going on in 
other parts of the world, and they did not 
know or care what other people were 
doing. So, when foreign people began 



46 grandmamma's letters. 

to come here^ a few years ago, they found 
many things just as they had been for 
centuries, and very different from other 
places; for while all the civilized coun- 
tries had been changing and advancing 
very fast, Japan had been, as it were, 
asleep, and everything was standing still. 
This is one reason why their year does 
not begin at the same time ours does; 
but I think it will not be long before 
they change the time, for they are getting 
awake now, and they want to be like the 
rest of the world. 

Well, to tell you about it. The new 
year always comes in the month we call 
February, but the exact day is regulated 
by the moon. The festival of the new 
year is a very important one, and always 
lasts a whole week. They give presents 
and make visits just as we do at home, 
and some people think our custom came 



JAPANESE NEW YEAR. 47 

from Japan; that it was learned from them 
by the Holland people who used to go 
there to trade, many hundred years ago, 
and by them taken to Holland, and then 
brought from there to America. I can- 
not tell how true this is, but it is a little 
odd to find these people doing exactly as 
we have always been accustomed to do 
in this respect, and it is very pleasant 
and natural for me, I can assure you. 

The houses here are so small that the 
people live about as much in the streets 
as they do in-doors; and at this time, as 
you go about the town, everything looks 
gay and lively. Each one is dressed in 
his or her best clothes; and, indeed, every 
one who expects to have them at all 
during the year, has new ones; for these 
poor folks do not generally get anything 
new except at this season. 

Very little work is done during this 



48 grandmamma's letters. 

week, but all sorts of plays and amuse- 
ments are going on. The chief of these 
are, for the girls, dolls, for the boys, 
kites, and shuttlecock for all. Though I 
might say all^ about each kind of these 
toys or plays, for the men and women 
seem nearly as fond of them as the chil- 
dren are, and all over the streets you see 
them busy, either using these things them- 
selves, or helping the little ones. 

The kites they use are very funny 
things: they all have some peculiar shape. 
Some like a great head of a man, or beast; 
some a cow, or a bird; or, what they seem 
very fond of, a demon, or evil spirit. You 
cannot think how curious and odd they 
look, and how much they appear like the 
real object they represent, when they are 
away up in the air, floating about above 
you. Then, many of them have a queer 
device fastened in them, that sounds, as 




Japanese Woman Playing ^with a Doll. 

(From a Photograph.) 



KITES AND DOLLS. 5 1 

the air rushes through it^ just like a soft, 
musical whistle; and when there are a 
good many of them around, it is strange, 
but really very pleasant, to hear, so far up 
towards the clouds, the music they make. 
Our little children have some that I bought 
for them, and they think it great fun to 
send them off up in the air. 

Then, the dolls of Japan are quite an 
institution, and are the funniest things 
imaginable. They look so like real babies 
and children, that I have often been de- 
ceived when I have seen them in the 
arms, carried about the streets. Besides 
playing with dolls at New Year's time, 
and any other, when they choose, there 
are two days set apart in April for what 
is called a "Doll's Festival," and all the 
girls, and even big women, make a great 
time of it. They take them out to walk, 
and visit, and get new dresses for them, 



52 grandmamma's letters. 

and treat them just as tenderly as if they 
were live children. 

You may think it funny for women to 
do this, but you do not know that the 
women in Japan are not taught to work, 
or spend their time in any useful way. 
There are no schools for girls, and so 
they grow up without learning anything 
that can fill their minds w^ith good 
thoughts, or help them to pass their 
time pleasantly. The poor Japanese wo- 
men have a very aimless life, and I think 
playing with dolls is about as harmless 
a way for them to get pleasure as they 
could find. 

Another thing that is peculiar to the 
new year is the way the houses are orna- 
mented. Before every house small bam- 
boo trees are set up; and as the leaves 
of these are small, and of a beautiful 
light green, and wave prettily in the 



DECORATIONS. 53 

breeze, they make the dark and small 
houses appear quite cheerful and bright 
as one looks along the street. Then, all 
along the front eaves of the houses they 
hang a deep fringe, made of straw, which 
also waves with every breath of wind, 
and looks odd and handsome. Another 
device is so very peculiar, and so much 
a part of the superstitious character of 
the people, that I must try and tell you 
about it. 

They place near the front of the house 
(and you know all their houses are made 
entirely open along the front, only closed 
at night, and in great storms, by sliding 
doors) a large pile, or pyramid, of cooked 
rice; on the top of this they put some 
fine straw, then some bitter oranges, next 
a crab, and, on top of all, a piece of dried 
fish-skin. 

The meaning of all is this: The rice 



54 grandmamma's letters. 

represents the ^^ Island of eternal happi- 
ness," which they think lies somewhere 
off in the ocean, and to which they desire 
to go when they die. The straw is a 
protection from evil spirits. The orange 
is to them an cmblen of successive gen- 
erations. By this they tell their gods that 
they wish themselves, and all their chil- 
dren, of every generation, to go to that 
island, but they also want to be pro- 
tected from the bad spirits while they 
live here. The crab expresses their de- 
sire to live till they are so old that they 
will have to creep along, all doubled up. 
And then, the fish-skin is always used by 
them, in all their presents and salutations, 
to express politeness and good wishes, 
and so they desire the gods to receive 
their reverence and good will, while they 
grant all their desires. 

Does not all this show you how dark 



THE BEST GIFT. 55 

their minds arc^ and that while they are 
groping after future happiness, they know 
little of the wonderful gift of our God, 
even eternal life, through Jesus Christ? 

But this is a very long letter, and now 
I must close. Only I want to tell you 
that nothing pleases me so much as to 
hear that you pray for me every day, and 
that God will make this school the place 
where many will come to learn the truth, 
and forsake their foolish customs. I am 
sure God is already answering your 
prayers, and that is the reason why we 
have such a happy home, and so much 
to praise Him for. 

As ever, I am your affectionate 

Grandmother. 



56 grandmamma's letters. 



VII. 

Yokohama, April 18, 1872. 



My dear Kittie : 



I want to tell you about one of our 
little girls whom we call Nona^ though 
that is not her real name. Her father 
came from another country, and has 
plenty of mone}^, but, like a great many 
people in this wicked city who have 
come from Christian lands, he is a bad 
man, and drinks so much liquor that he 
does not care for anybody or anything j 
though, when he is sober, he seems to 
love his little girl, and is willing to pay 
well to have her taken care of here. 

She had a wicked heathen mother, and 
when little Nona was only three years 



NONA. 57 

old, she went away, and left her with a 
careless, bad girl; so for a year and a 
half the poor little thing had a very hard 
life, and suffered much for the want of 
some kind friends. What has been the 
hardest is, that through the carelessness 
oP those who were with her, she was 
hurt very badly, and one foot and leg is 
so much injured that she cannot walk 
alone; and though it will get better, we 
hope, by good treatment, yet she will 
riever be able to run about, and skip, and 
jump like other children. 

Well, this little one came to us about 
five months ago. She could not speak, 
or understand a word of English, and had 
never heard of God, or such a thing as 
singing. I think I have told you that the 
Japanese never sing, and it is only since 
Christian people have come here that they 
have heard it. It was quite amusing to see 



58 grandmamma's letters. 

little Nona's wonder and interest when 
she first heard us singing hymns, and I 
knew at once that she was going to make 
a good singer herself. She had a very 
bad temper, and at first it was very diffi- 
cult to make her obey; but God helped 
us to govern her, and she soon learned 
to do as she was told. 

I wish you could see and hear her 
now, as I often do, when she comes down 
into the dining-room, early in the morn- 
ing, and sits there waiting for the other 
children and the breakfast. She likes to 
get up early, and is generally the first 
one to come down stairs. There she will 
sit in her little chair, so contented and 
happy, and sing one hymn after another, 
"Jesus loves me," "Christ is born the 
Lord of glory," " There is a happy land," 
and parts of several others; and then when 
the breakfast is over, she claims a cushion 



NONA AT FAMILY PRAYERS. 59 

beside me, while we read our morning 
Bible lesson; and, kneeling at the same 
chair with me, she always repeats, with 
us, the Lord's prayer, at the end of our 
worship. And it is the most touching 
thing to me sometimes, when I am pray- 
ing, to feel her little hand working itself 
into mine, or softly laid against my cheek. 
And this little creature, so apt, so af- 
fectionate, was, five months ago, a poor, 
neglected little waif, floating about among 
the most degraded heathen. Do you not 
love her, my dear little Kittie, and are 
you not glad she has now such a pleasant 
home, and some one to tell her of Jesus 
and his love? 

Good-by, for to-day, from 

Grandma. 



6o grandmamma's letters. 



VIII. 

Yokohama, May 15, 1872. 
My dear Mary : 

This is the anniversary of my leaving 
you in dear old Albany, and I might feel 
very sad, as I think of the great distance 
between my home and dear ones, and the 
long year that has passed since I saw 
them, but God has been so good, and so 
many things have happened during this 
past year to make me glad and thankful, 
that I will not allow myself to be one bit 
sad to-day. And to make the time pass 
pleasantly, and give you something that 
I think will interest you, I am going to 
tell you of an excursion I made into the 
country. This will help you to under- 



AN EXCURSION. 6l 

stand how the Japanese live, and some- 
thing of their strange ways. 

I went with Mr. B and his two little 

daughters, and Ogowa and his wife, two 
nice Japanese Christians. The people 
over on the other side of the bay had 
heard something about the teachings of 
the missionaries in Yokohama, and they 
sent a man over to Ogowa, whose home 
used to be over there, to ask him if he 
would bring a Christian teacher there, 
who could tell them about Jesus. We 
all thought it a very wonderful thing, and 
felt sure it was an answer to the prayers 
that are constantly being offered, that the 
Holy Spirit will incline the hearts of this 
people to receive the truth. That was 

the reason Mr. B and Ogowa went, 

and as they wanted me to go along, I 
concluded to do so. 

We all started to sail in a Japanese 



62 grandmamma's letters. 

boat across the bay, and it was a very 
funny experience, I can tell you. Their 
little boats are queer things, and very 
unlike anything you have at home. Then, 
the wind blew very hard, and some of 
us, myself among the number, were so 
sea-sick that we had to lie right down 
in the bottom of the boat, among the 
ropes and boards, and, O, we did feel so 
bad, we thought we never could get up 
to go on shore when the boat reached 
the other side! 

All that passed away, however, as soon 
as the boat became still; but what do 
you think we found when we stopped 
sailing? Why, that we were nearly a 
mile from the land! The boat stuck fast 
in the sand, and could not get any nearer, 
because the water was not deep enough. 
This was a pretty fix, — do you not think 
so? Well, the people here did not seem 



A NOVEL RIDE. 63 

to mind it much^ for they are used to it; 
and so the coolies^ or " Sendos/' as they 
call the sailors, got over the sides of the 
boat into the water, which was about two 
feet deep, and said they would carry us 
on their backs. 

This cured me of my sea-sickness very 
soon, for I had to laugh so much to see 
how the others were all carried; but I 
would not try it that way. I told Mr. 

B if he would show two men how 

to make a chair with their arms (you 
know how that is done — do you not?) 
I would sit on that, but I would never 
ride astride a man's back. 

Well, they tried it, by Mr. B 's 

direction, and I started very nicely; but 
when I got about half-way to the shore, 
I found they were getting very unsteady, 
and at last they let me slide right down 
into the water. I laughed so hard that 



64 grandmamma's letters. 

for a while I could not walk, but at last 
I went on, and waded the rest of the 
way, and finally got safely to the dry 
land, where all the rest were standing 
laughing at me. I learned a good lesson 
by it, and hereafter I do not mean to set 
myself up to be wiser and better than 
every one else, but just do as others do, 
and make the best of it. 

When we came on shore, a crowd of 
dirty, curious people, including children, 
gathered about us; and you will not won- 
der they did so, when I tell you that I 
was the first white or foreign woman 
who had ever been in that part of the 
country. 

After some delay we got a ^^Norimono'' 
for me to ride in, and horses for the rest 
of the party, and started off for the place 
back in the country where we had been 
invited. A Norimono is a square box, 



RIDE IN A NORIMONO. 65 

about three feet high, and nearly as long; 
just wide enough for one person to sit 
in. It is all enclosed, and one has to sit 
upon the feet ^"^ tailor-fashion." A pole is 
fastened along the top, by which two men 
carry it on their shoulders. It is pleas- 
ant at first, but very soon one gets tired 
sitting so cramped up, and then the 
swinging motion makes one feel almost 
as bad as when sea-sick. 

In going out, we passed through a 
beautiful part of the country, and I saw 
how the farmers live, and cultivate their 
land. Many things were very odd, and 
I would like to describe them, but only 
a few can I tell you about. They plant 
a great deal of rice all over Japan, for 
that is the principal article of food. The 
people never eat bread, as we do, and 
rice serves instead. These rice-fields are 
always kept covered with water, and so, 

5 



66 grandmamma's letters. 

to get places to plant other things in, — 
such as potatoes, beans, radishes, &c., — 
they throw up little patches or squares 
of earth, making them about three feet 
higher than the rice and water, and on 
the top of them they plant all those 
things. It looks very pretty but curi- 
ous, as you ride along, to see these little 
square places, all over the country, cov- 
ered with such different-colored vegeta- 
tion from that growing down on the level 
of the ground* 

Then they have such a strange way 
of training pear-trees. They plant them 
in long rows, quite close together, and as 
they grow up about seven or eight feet 
high, they begin to turn the branches all 
crosswise, and tie them to one another. 
By the time the trees get to be a pretty 
good size, it looks underneath like a long 
hall, or passage-way, with very regular col- 



JAPANESE HIGH LIFE. 67 

umns Upon each side, and a thick, rich 
ceiling of beautiful green leaves over- 
head. Looking down upon one of the 
large pear orchards, you can see nothing 
but a solid green floor. They alv^ays 
take a great deal of pains to have them 
kept nicely trimmed, and really they are 
most beautiful, though the fruit is not at 
all nice, as it never gets any sun, v^hich 
you know is very necessary. 

The gentleman at whose house we 
stayed is like the " Patroon " of Albany. 
He is very rich, and has hundreds of 
retainers. These are not exactly ser- 
vants, but still they are governed and 
supported by him. The place is very 
large, and is surrounded by a moat, or 
canal, which is to prevent any enemies 
from getting in. We crossed a large 
stone bridge, and, going through a mas- 
sive gate-way, found ourselves in an im- 
mense open square, around which were a 



68 grandmamma's letters. 

gi'eat many houses, some large and some 
small, but all pretty and neat. 

We then, after crossing this square, 
passed through another gate, not so large, 
but much more elegant, and entered the 
garden of our host. This was wondrous- 
ly beautiful. There were little lakes 
and waterfalls, miniature mountains, caves, 
grottos, bridges, with all kinds of trees, 
trained to represent ships, houses, dogs, 
and birds. You could hardly believe 
how perfect they can make the shape of 
these objects out of the evergreen trees 
that grow here. 

We were received in the house very 
politely, but many things were not ac- 
cording to our ideas, and we would think 
some things quite rudej yet, as we knew 
these people did not mean it so, we tried 
not to notice their strange ways. 

One thing we have to bear in every 
place, and we found the rich people just 



JAPANESE HIGH LIFE. 69 

as much given to it as the poor — that 
is, a curiosity to examine everything you 
v^ear, or carry v^ith you. 

The Japanese people do not use beds 
like ours, but lie upon the floor, w^ith just 
one very heavy covering over them, and 
a w^ooden block for a pillov^. We could 
not use such pillow^s, so v^e had brought 
with us some sheets and pillow^s of our 
ow^n. We could not eat their kind of 
food, and we had packed up a parcel of 
canned meat, and fruits, and also some 
bread, butter, cakes, &c. 

As we opened our parcels, it was very 
amusing to see how curious the people 
were, from the host and his aged mother, 
down to the tiny children of the servants, 
for all gathered about us to see. In a 
Japanese gentleman's house, the servants 
and their children seem just as free and 
familiar as any members of the family; and 
although they are always very respectful, 



70 grandmamma's letters. 

and know their proper place, they are 
treated with so much kindness that one 
can hardly tell if they are servants or not. 

I was almost sorry we had brought our 
own food, for the gentleman was so po- 
lite, and anxious to do everything he 
could for us ; but, although it seemed 
rude in us, it was really necessary, for, 
excepting eggs, chickens, fish, and pota- 
toes, there is nothing we can eat now; 
perhaps by and by we may learn to like 
their strange ways of cooking. 

But my letter has grown so long that 
I think I must not try to tell you about 
the rest of our visit this time. When I 
write again, perhaps I will finish the 
story; for many things happened which 
I thought very pleasant and interesting. 

Now I will only say, ^^ God bless all 
my dear little ones in America." 

Grandma. 



NATIVE RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL. 71 



IX. 

Yokohama, June 20, 1872. 
My dear Grandchildren : 

I wonder if my dear little children 
at home would not like to spend a little 
time with grandma to-day, and listen to 
some stories about these strange people 
in this far-off place. Well, I take this 
for granted, as big folks say; but since 
you cannot do this, because a great ocean 
rolls between us, I am going to try and 
have a little talk with my pen. I often 
thank our dear Father in heaven that we 
have pen and paper, and that I learned 
to use them, and have eyes to see how 
to write, so that, although I am so far 
from all my dear ones, I can still tell them 



72 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

SO easily the thoughts that are in my 
heart. Do you ever thank God for your 
little, common, every-day comforts? Do 
you not think it pleases Him when we 
try to see His love and tender care 
for us in all the good things we have, 
whether they are great or small ? 

But I am going to tell you now about 
a great religious festival that is going on 
among the Chinese and Japanese here. 
There are a good many Chinese in this 
place, an^d it seems this festival is kept 
by the people of this country and those 
of China at the same time, although their 
religion is not exactly the same. 

I cannot find out just the precise ob- 
ject of these observances, but, as near as 
I can learn, they are intended in some 
way to help the spirits of all their friends 
who are dead. Something, I think, as 
the Catholic people do when they pray 



MUSIC OF THE BELLS. 73 

for the dead; only these heathen seem to 
think that their dead friends need some- 
thing for the body as well as for the spirit. 
Our servants, who try to use all the Eng- 
lish they can, call all their religious sea- 
sons " Sundays/' and they say this is ^^ big 
Sunday.'' It has lasted three days, and 
closes to-night. 

In all the temples they have bells sus- 
pended — or, rather, in a little outside 
building: these bells are made of bronze, 
and the sound is produced by striking on 
them with a hammer. In every direc- 
tion these bells have been sounding all 
these days. They have a peculiar but 
very musical sound, and that, together 
with the fire-crackers, which are used 
very profusely by the Chinese, makes it 
seem almost like our Fourth of July. 

The Chinese who live here are, like all 
of that race, very proud, and think them- 



74 grandmamma's letters. 

selves a great deal better than the Jap- 
anese; and it quite vexes me sometimes 
to see them treat the poor Japs as though 
they were no better than dogs. 

The lot on which this house stands, like 
all the lots on this bluff, is of very irregu- 
lar shape, and the back part of it runs 
down a steep, almost perpendicular hill. 
Adjoining the very lowest part of it is 
a Chinese burying-ground, and one day 
they had some very strange ceremonies 
there. There was no one to explain them 
to us, and so I cannot tell you what they 
mean; and it was all so funny that I would 
have felt like laughing at it, only it made 
me realize how ignorant and blind the 
poor creatures are, and I felt, since it was 
a part of their superstitious religion, I 
ought rather to pity them. 

I suppose very nearly all the Chinese 
in the city were assembled in the grave- 



CHINESE CEREMONIES. 75 

yard, dressed in white — white is their 
color for mourning — or light-blue gar- 
ments : loose, flowing coats, and baggy 
trousers reaching only to the knees; long, 
white stockings, queer, boat-like shoes, 
bare heads, and their long black pigtails 
hanging down their backs. 

They had brought tliere several large 
baskets, very much like the crates crock- 
ery comes packed in. On the ground, 
in various places, they spread large straw 
mats. Then they put up in rows, all 
around the grounds, little sticks about a 
foot and a half high, which I think was 
'punk^ such as you light fire-crackers 
with, for they lighted them all, and they 
burned very slowly for many hours; or 
they might have been incense sticks, for 
they placed one at the head and one at 
the foot of every grave. 

Then they took out of one of the 



*]6 grandmamma's letters. 

crates two large trays, and two whole 
roasted pigs, weighing at least one hun- 
dred pounds each. These pigs seemed 
to be skinned, and then covered all over 
with a kind of red plaster. They were 
placed on the trays, with all four of their 
legs bent under them, and then little 
dishes of boiled rice, cakes, and many 
kinds of fruit were arranged around them 
on the large mats, upon which each of 
the trays were set. They had ribbons 
and colored papers, too, in great profu- 
sion, put about and on them. Out of the 
other crate, or basket, they took a great 
quantity of small baskets, containing fruits 
and cakes, which they distributed all over 
the grounds. 

In a large, white structure, which I had 
often noticed, and thought was a monu- 
ment, but which proved to be a hollow 
oven, they made a great fire, and smaller 



FOOD FOR THE DEAD. 77 

ones on the ground near the pigs. Then 
each person took a small teacup, and 
poured into it, from a great can that stood 
there, some liquid, which I guess was 
tea; this they would throw into the fires, 
and then kneeling upon the mats near 
by, they prostrated themselves entirely to 
the ground, touching it with their fore- 
heads every time they bent over, while 
they threw their arms out and backward 
in a wild and singular manner. 

After this they made long rows of what 
looked like pieces of white paper; but 
they must have been a kind of fire-crack- 
er, for as they set fire to one end of the 
row, it ran along the whole line, pop- 
ping and snapping with a tremendous 
noise. 

From our back windows we watched 
them with our opera-glasses, and could 
distinctly see every movement. It was a 



78 grandmamma's letters. 

curious but painful sight to me. I could 
only surmise, from what I know of hea- 
then superstitions, that the food was de- 
signed to supply the wants of the dead in 
the other world, and the papers burned 
were prayers for their happiness. I rather 
think the whole thing was intended for 
the benefit of those who are in the other 
world, and is done every year to prove 
their affection and reverence for their 
departed friends. 

The ceremony of burning the papers 
has been repeated three times during the 
w^eek. 

After the performance was over, all the 
articles of food were distributed among 
the servants and poor people, who had 
gathered in great numbers around the 
place. I was glad to see that done, and 
so some good came to themj but is it 
not strange the poor idolaters could sup- 



SERIOUS THOUGHTS. 



79 



pose their dead friends received any ben- 
efit from itj when it was all eaten up by 
living people here? 

You can hardly imagine what a sad 
and strange feeling it gives me to know 
that I am surrounded by those who are 
so totally ignorant of the true God^ and 
Jesus Christ whom He has sent, — to be 
compelled to feel that not one of all this 
multitude knew^ anything of the only way 
by which they can obtain eternal life. 

Sometimes, as I sit here by this dear 
little desk, in this quiet, pleasant room, 
I forget that I am in a heathen land, 
and so far from those scenes and persons 
I love so well; but a single glance out 
of the windows dispels all such illusions, 
and forces me to the painful conviction 
that it is true of this people what one of 
the holy men wrote in the Bible hun- 
dreds of years ago : " Darkness covers the 



8o grandmamma's letters. 

landj and gross darkness the people." It 
is very comforting to see, however, that 
light is beginning to break in. A few 
are learning to read God's precious word, 
and I feel very sure the time is not far 
off when the truth will be freely taught 
here. 

Now, this is ^^ grandma's talk" for to- 
day. I hope it will please you; and while 
you are sorry for these poor heathen 
people, you will be very thankful that 
you live in a Christian land. 
Now, and always. 

With warmest love, 

Grandmother. 



JAPANESE CHILDREN. 8l 



X. 

Yokohama, August 6, 1872. 
Dear Mary, Bertie, and Kittie : 

How I would like to see you walking 
about this house to-day ! and how I 
would put my arras close, O, so close, 
around you, and kiss you so many, many 
times! Well, I cannot see you here, but 
you do not know how much I think 
about you, and how many things I see 
and hear that I would like to tell you of. 

dear! if it did not take so long to 
write it all, how much you would hear 
from Japan! There are other dear chil- 
dren, too, to whom I would write if I 
could get the time; but since I cannot, 

1 have been thinking that you could ask 

6 



82 grandmamma's letters. 

your mamma or Aunt A to take this 

letter to the Industrial schools and read 
it to the children, and then it would 
please them too, and they would know 
that I think of them, though I am so far 
away. 

I am going to tell you something more 
about the children in Japan, for I want 
you to know all you can of them, and I 
think you will like it as well as anything 
I can write. I do believe there are more 
children here, for the size of the country 
and the number of grown-up people, than 
there are anywhere else in the world. 

It is very fortunate for those who live 
here that they are so good-natured and 
quiet, for it would be dreadful if they 
were as noisy and quarrelsome as some 
children I have seen. Some persons say 
they are so good because their parents 
allow them to do just as they choose. 



JAPANESE CHILDREN. 83 

Now, I dare say you think that must be 
very nice for the children, — and so it is, 
when, like these little folks, they do not 
choose very bad things; but I should not 
like to try that plan with any other but 
Japanese children, for I am sure there 
are no others who are naturally so good 
as they are. 

But there are some very evil things in 
their life, and some of them come from 
that very want of government and care. 
They are a dirty, sore-eyed, sore-headed, 
crook-backed, miserable, and diseased- 
looking set of little creatures, and neither 
they nor their parents know of any better 
life. They throng about one every step 
one goes in the streets, and it takes a 
great deal of patience and pity to get 
along with them. 

There is one thing that looks very 
strange. Almost every child one sees 



84 grandmamma's letters. 

going about the streets, from six to ten 
or twelve years of age, seems, if coming 
towards you, to have two heads. Now, 
how do you suppose that can be? Well, 
I will tell you. The little children are 
all carried on the back, instead of in the 
arms, and so the larger children are made 
to carry the little babies strapped on their 
backs, as the easiest and safest way for 
them to take care of them; and as they 
come towards you, you can see only the 
head of the baby over the shoulder of 
the other child, and thus it seems as if 
it had two heads; and I have a good 
many times, until I became used to it, 
been quite startled by seeing such an odd 
sight. 

It is a very hard way for the poor baby, 
though, for when it goes to sleep, as it 
very often does, its poor little head falls 
back, and the sun shines right down 



JAPANESE CHILDREN. 85 

upon its face and eyes, and it looks as 
if its neck would break off. 

None of the grown people or children 
ever wear hats, or anything to protect 
the head from the sun, except that the 
big people carry umbrellas, but the little 
folks do not. Almost all the children 
have dreadful sores about them. The 
people are very wicked, and have some 
very bad practices; and God punishes 
them by letting them be weak and sick- 
ly, and have these horrid diseases, and 
the poor little children have to suffer for 
it It makes me so sorry for them, for 
they cannot help it, you know. And 
then, what makes it still worse, there are 
so many fleas and mosquitoes here, and 
you can guess how it hurts these little 
ones to have them get in the sores and 
bite them so badly. 

The saddest thing to me is, that they 



86 grandmamma's letters. 

do not know any better life. The parents 
of these children do not know that if they 
would live pure^ industrious, and proper 
lives, they would not have these dread- 
ful diseases. They do not know that the 
idols they pray to cannot make them well, 
but that our God can do it. 

I saw a boy one day, who had very 
sore eyes, go into a temple, which you 
know is their church, and go up to a 
great, hideous idol, or image, as high as 
the top of your room, all painted red and 
black and white, with its mouth wide 
open, and its tongue hanging out, and look- 
ing, O, so very ugly! and he began to 
rub his hands all over the feet and legs 
of the god, and then rubbed his own 
eyes. 

I asked Mr. B what that was for, and 

he said that was the god that cured sore 
eyes, and the people came there to rub 



NO SINGING CHILDREN. 87 

their hands first on the god, and then on 
their eyes, expecting to be cured. 

Do you not think we ought to try and 
teach them better, and help them learn 
about our dear Father in heaven, and our 
kind, loving Saviour, who went about 
when He was in this world, healing all 
kinds of disease and sickness j and that He 
is just the same now, able and willing to 
do all that they desire, if they will only 
believe in Him, and pray to Him, instead 
of praying to their hideous wooden idols. 

Another thing which makes me so 
sorry, and of which I believe I have fold 
you before — they never sing. 

It is so pleasant to hear our little folks 
at home sing their sweet and beautiful 
Sabbath school fiymns ; but these poor 
little ones have never been taught that 
they have voices that could be used for 
such a purpose. There is not one hymn 



88 grandmamma's letters. 

written in their language. How much 
pleasure they lose! Do you not think so? 

You know that we ladies in this house, 
and all the missionaries indeed, want to 
teach them these precious truths that 
make our own dear little folks at home 
so much wiser and happier than they are. 
Do you not think this is right? And will 
you not do all you can to help us? 

A little black-and-white messenger 
came all the way across the big sea, and 
told me that Bertie had said, " Why can't 
grandma tell the heathen children about 
Jesus without my pennies?" Is that so, 
Bertie? Did you say just that? Well, 
so I could tell them; only you must re- 
member they speak a different language 
from the one we use, and they could not 
understand me if I tried ever so hard to 
talk with them. Now, what would you 
do in such a case? Fll tell you what we 



SCHOOL. 



89 



want to do, and I guess you will think it 
the very best thing possible. We have a 
nice house, and it is all fixed up pleas- 
ant and comfortable. Now, we want to 
get a good many of these children to come 
here every day to school, and some we 
hope will come and live with us all the 
time. 

The first thing we shall try to do, will 
be to teach them to talk as we do. Then 
we can tell them all about our dear Lord 
Jesus, and how they should love and 
serve Him. We can tell them then how 
wicked it is to pray to gods made of wood 
and stone, who cannot hear or help them. 
Now, you know it costs a great deal of 
money to buy a house, and get tables, 
and chairs, and beds, and dishes, and all 
those things that are needed to make a 
home comfortable. Then, too, they must 
have food every day, and a cook to get 



90 grandmamma's letters. 

it ready for them to eat. Clothes, too, 
must be had, and some one to wash them, 
and to keep everything nice and clean in 
the house. Now, don't you know that 
for all these things j^our papa has to pay 
money? And it is just the same here in 
Japan, only some things cost more than 
they do in America. 

So you see we must have money, and 
a good deal of it, too; and where shall 
we get it, if the dear friends at home do 
not send it to us ? And we want the 
children's help, too, and Bertie's pennies 
are needed just as much as grandma's 
presence and voice. 

My dear little children, who have such 
a happy and comfortable home, who have 
the precious Bible, and know so much of 
the love of our dear Father in heaven, I 
hope will pity these poor, ignorant ones, 
and desire to do something for them. I 



HOW CHILDREN CAN BE HELPERS. pi 

hope they will rather save their pennies, 
and put them in the Mission Box, than 
to spend them all for their own pleasure. 
That would be only selfish, and make 
your hearts grow hard and unkind; but 
if you try to do good, and help others all 
you can, you will grow more and more 
like the dear Saviour, and will surely be 
more happy and beloved by others. I 
will pray that God will make you all just 
such children. 

Your loving 

Grandma. 



92 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



XI. 

Yokohama, July 26, 1872. 
My dear little Folks at Home: 

I wanted to write a letter to each one 
of my little folks to-day, but the time has 
run away so fast that I find it quite im- 
possible to do it, and so, as usual, I must 
put it all together, and you can claim it 
as your own. I have so much to tell you: 

dear! if I could only write faster! but 

1 can't, and you must just take what I 
can do. Among all the pleasant things 
that are coming to us these days, I will 
only tell you of one which has made me 
so happy that I want everybody to know 
it, and to join me in praising God. 

I want to tell you how God helped us 



FIRST NATIVE PRAYER MEETING. 93 

to ^^set up a family altar" for our servants. 
Do you know w^hat that is? I think you 
do, and so I need not explain it to you; 
but you do not know what a wonderful 
thing it is to have some of these heathen 
people meet every day in one place, and 
listen to the reading of God's holy word, 
and then join in His worship. And you 
do not know, perhaps, this is the very first 
time, and the first house in which this 
has ever been attempted in this countr}^, 
although it is more than two thousand 
years old. And this is what makes it 
so remarkable, and gives us such cause 
for joy. 

There is one young man who became 
a Christian a short time ago. He was 
married a few weeks since, but he was so 
poor that he could not hire a house to 
live in. It was proposed to us to let him 
and his wife live in a little room which 



94 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

we had attached to our school-house, and 
he was asked, if we gave him this room, 
if he would be willing to come in every 
morning and read the Bible and pray with 
our family in Japanese. 

The people here are not allowed by 
the government to do this; and if they are 
detected in doing so, they can be taken 
by the officers and put in prison. This is 
the reason why none of the missionaries 
have tried before to have family worship. 
We thought, however, it was our duty to 
make the trial, and somehow I felt very 
sure it would please God, and He would 
help us. So, when it was proposed to 
Shonoski, — for that is the young man's 
name, — he said he was not afraid to wor- 
ship God, and he would do the best he 
could. 

And so he commenced, and now every 
morning, after our prayers in English, I 



FIRST NATIVE PRAYER MEETING. 95 

go out on our piazza and ring the bell, 
and then Shonoski and his wife come 
from their little room, with their copy of 
the gospel of Mark, which is translated 
into Japanese; and from the other little 
houses and the kitchen our servants all 
gather so quickly and pleasantly, that any 
one can see that it is a delight and not 
a hard task: and then they have their 
prayers together; and once more the offer- 
ing of praise and prayer goes up to our 
God. O how happy it makes me, and I 
sometimes weep for joy, as I see how 
eagerly these poor people listen to the 
words of life and truth ! 

I went down street this afternoon, and 
when I came home I found a dear little 
boy here, who had been brought by his 
mother to live with us. His father is a 
wicked Englishman, who has forsaken 
several little children, and cares not what 



96 grandmamma's letters. 

becomes of them. The mother is a Ja- 
panese woman, and very poor; but she 
loves her children, and v^ants to have 
them taught to read English, though she 
is a heathen, and would rather not have 
them learn anything of our religion; for 
she thinks all Christians are like the fa- 
ther of her children, and if they get to be 
" Christein," they will be wicked as he is. 

What is a little strange about this little 
fellow is, that although he had some other 
queer name before, his mother changed 
it to " Charlie," just to bring him here. 

It is very common for these people to 
change their names whenever they please; 
but it seems so curious that she should 
choose the name that belonged to another 
one of my own dear children. 

This little Charlie is a bright, handsome 
boy, just eight years old, and although 
he cannot speak a word of our language, 



CHARLIE, 97 

yet he seems to understand a good deal 
that is said to him, and we all think we 
shall love him very much. 

Now we have Eddie, Annie, Minnie, 
and Charlie — all my own names. Don't 
you think it must seem a good deal like 
home to me? 

Good-by, and love, from 

Grandma. 

7 



98 grandmamma's letters. 



XII. 

Yokohama, Oct. 12, 1872. 
My dear Bertie : 

Some time ago I wrote part of the ac- 
count of my visit across the bay. Now 
I think I must give all the little folks at 
home the rest of the story. I suppose 
you do not remember all I told you in 
that letter; but you must read it over, 
and then, by "putting this and that to- 
gether," you will be able to understand 
it all. 

The first night we spent at Sakuma's — 
for that was the name of our host — they 
thought they would be very kind, and 
give us beds; so they brought in some 
large wooden doors, and laid them up a 



SINGULAR BEDS. 99 

little above the floor, on some big blocks, 
and then spread over them some red 
woollen blankets. These were something 
very nice, according to their ideas, for, 
as wool has never been grown or used 
in Japan, it is only very lately that they 
have seen any kind of woollen goods. 
Some foreign merchants have brought a 
large number of blankets, of all colors, 
and the Japanese think them wonderful. 
Any person who is rich enough to buy 
some of these is very proud to have 
them, and so our friend was willing to 
gratify his pride, and make us comfort- 
able, as he thought, by letting us use his 
new blankets. 

We tried the beds, but we found them 
very hard, notwithstanding the blankets, 
and concluded the mats on the floor were 
easier than the doors. 

The next morning, when we began our 



lOO GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

preparations for breakfast, the friends in 
the house arranged the doors for our ta- 
ble, and put the blankets on again for 
the table-cloth. This was decidedly dis- 
agreeable, but politeness required us to 
keep silent; and we ate at the "table," 
though we were very careful not to let 
any of the food lie upon it. 

After breakfast we prepared to visit 
a mountain, about twelve miles distant, 
called Karnozan. This is a very cele- 
brated place, both on account of the 
beautiful village and grand old temples 
right on the top of the mountain, and 
for the wonderful view there is from one 
particular spot, where we looked down 
upon ninety-nine valleys. All over among 
those valleys were scattered little villages 
and farms, which made the scene most 
charming. 

We were caught in a grand thunder- 



SAFE IN A THUNDER-STORM. lOI 

storm, and it was a sublime sight to see 
the dark, angry-looking clouds rolling 
among the hills below us, as well as 
over our heads. I am never afraid of 
the thunder, and can enjoy such a storm. 
I believe I must stop here to tell you 
why I am never afraid, and perhaps it 
will help to keep you from fear. 

When I was a very little girl, only five 
years old, one Sabbath evening we were 
sitting all together in the wide old hall, 
saying our catechism, — which in those 
days all the children were taught very 
carefully, — when a terrific thunder-storm 
came up. I was greatly frightened, and 
began to cry, when my dear mother took 
me up on her lap, and, as she sat rock- 
ing me in the old-fashioned chair in 
which she was sitting, she taught me 
these beautiful lines: — 



I02 grandmamma's letters. 

" Jehovah sits upon the clouds, 
And governs all the sky ; 
He rolls the thunder round the globe, 
And bids the lightning fly." 

Ever since that night I have always 
knov^n that God is in the storm as w^ell 
as in the sunshine, and I have often 
thanked Him that it is so sv^eet, and 
makes me feel so safe, to believe He is 
my Father, and able to take care of me 
in every place. Do you feel so? And 
are you glad to know that God is every- 
where, and in all things? 

And now we will come back to our 
story. The storm lasted so long that we 
were obliged to stay up on the moun- 
tain all night, for which I was not sorry, 
though we had neither bedding nor food 
of our kind there. Still we got along 
very well, and thought it paid us to bear 
some hardships for the privilege of seeing 



AN INTERESTING MEETING. IO3 

such a grand storm, and then witness- 
ing a glorious sunrise in the morning. 

That evening we returned to Saku- 
ma's house, and, according to arrange- 
ments, Mr. B had a meeting of all 

the people on the place, to explain to 
them what the Christian religion is. 

The large room, or hall, in which the 
people gathered, was a very strange-look- 
ing place. All the old houses in Japan 
become very black, and the reason is, they 
have a fashion of washing the wood-work 
with water in which they put lampblack 
or soot. After many years this makes the 
wood very smooth and shiny, and it looks 
exactly like that black wood they call 
ebony. The room in which we all met 
was like this, and as the Japanese never 
have many lights in the evening, and what 
they have are very dim, — only a small 
taper in a saucer of oil, — you must try 



I04 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

and imagine how dark and queer ever)^- 
thing looked. 

Just fancy a very large room, with near- 
ly all the side walls, and all overhead, 
jet black; a few small, dim lights scat- 
tered around on one side, and at one end 
large altars, or shrines, on which there 
were, probably, thirty of the household 
idols, some very rich, and some small and 
poor, but all worshipped by the family; — 
imagine at one end of the room quite a 
crowd, perhaps fifty or sixty dark-skinned, 
bald-headed people (for the men all have 
the tops of their heads shaved) sitting on 

the floor; at the other end, Mr. B , 

the party with him, and the gentleman 
of the house with his family, — and then 
you will know how it looked in that meet- 
ing, which was the first ever held in that 
part of the country where the name of 
Christ was made known. O, it was de- 



PRAYERS FOR JAPAN. IO5 

lightful to me to see all those people so 
anxious to hear the gospel! They were 
not willing to have Mr. B stop talk- 
ing; and when he did, after ten o'clock, 
they began to question Ogawa, and kept 
him there with them till nearly twelve 
o'clock. 

Is it not hard to leave such people to 
worship their dumb idols, just because 
there is no one to go and live among 
them, and teach them the truth! 

This we had to do the next morning, 
when we came away, and it made us all 
sad, for they wanted so much to have 
some one stay; but this, however, could 
not be. But I will tell you what we all 
resolved to do; and that is, pray that 
God will bless the words that have been 
spoken, and make them like good seed, 
that may be hid for a while, but some 
time will bear much fruit. We are going 



io6 grandmamma's letters. 

to pray, too, that God will send more 
missionaries to Japan, so that there may 
be one to go to this place. 

Will you help us by praying, too? You 
know I believe in children's prayers, and 
now that I have told you so much about 
this place and people, you will know 
just what to ask God for. 

And now my long story is ended, and 
I will only say that I love you all as 
dearly as ever, and pray for you con- 
stantly. 

Grandma. 



SENDING AWAY THE BOYS. I07 



XIII. 

Yokohama, Nov. io, 1872. 

My dear Little Folks at Home : 

I suppose you have heard, through my 
letters to the big people, all about our 
moving into a nice, large house, and how 
happy we all feel, because now we can 
take more into our family, and be so 
much more comfortable: so I will not 
tell you anything more about that. But 
there is something in all our gladness that 
has made us feel very badj it was one 
of the hardest things for me that has hap- 
pened since I came to Japan. I know, 
you too will feel sorry when I tell you 
we have sent away from our home all 
the little boys who were with us. 



io8 grandmamma's letters. 

You all know how I love the boys, and 
you can imagine that little Charlie and 
Eddie were especially dear to me, for 
they seemed to come a little into the place 
of those who were once ^^ my very own; '' 
but we had found by trial that it was not 
wise to have boys and girls together, un- 
less they can have separate rooms at all 
times. This we could not arrange; and 
after talking a great deal over it, and pray- 
ing for a long time that God would show 
us the best way, we decided that, on a 
certain day, their friends must come and 
take them all away. 

O, what a sad day it was ! for the poor 
little fellows did not want to go, and cried 
so bitterly, that it made us ladies cry as 
much as they. One little boy, when he 
got outside the gate, threw himself down 
on the grass beside the road, and said, 



SCHOOL FOR GIRLS ONLY. 



109 



with pitiful sobbing, ^^I won't go; I canH 
go from this house." 

It was only because we thought it was 
God's will, and we could do more good 
to the girls if we had them alone, that we 
could be firm, when we saw how grieved 
the poor little things were. But now we 
must all pray that God will provide some 
good friends for the boys, and give them 
a home just like this, where they can 
be taught about Jesus, and learn how 
they can grow up to be good Christian 
men. 

After this, then, you must always think 
of this as a school and home for girls : 
but I hope Bertie will not think that is 
any reason why he should not work for 
us, and save all his pennies, because the 
girls who are taught in this school are 
going to be teachers themselves by and 
by, and then they can help to instruct the 



no GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

boys, and so do a gi*eat deal more for 
them than we can. 

I want now to tell you a little story 
about one of our dear girls — the little 
Annie of whom I have so often written. 

I went to the breakfast-table one morn- 
ing, as I generally do, to wait upon the 
children^ and hear their Bible verses, 
which they always repeat at that time, 
when I found that Annie was not there. 
I asked why she was absent, and was told 
she was sick; so I went immediately to 
her room, but found, upon questioning 
her, that she only had a little stomach- 
ache, and was staying in bed, more be- 
cause she felt (as little folks often do, 
3^ou know) a little lazy and sleepy, and 
did not want to get up so early. 

^^ O, come, come,'' said I; ^^ we want 
you to get up, and come and eat your 
breakfast; and if you feel sick after that, 



ANNIE IN PRAYER. Ill 

you may go to bed again. Now hurry 
and dress, and come quickly.'' 

Then I went back to the table; but 
very soon a gentleman called with a w^ork- 
man, to see about repairing the ceilings 
that had been shaken down by a very 
hard earthquake. This gentleman was 
very kind, and wanted to help me; and 
so he had come to talk with the Japanese 
mason, and show him how to do the 
work. The ceiling in the room where 
Annie slept was one that was broken, 
and we had to go there to look at it. 
When we entered the room, there was 
the dear child on her knees beside her 
little bed, alone, saying her morning 
prayers. She did not jump up afraid, or 
hasten to finish, but, very quietly, with 
eyes closed, and her little hands clasped, 
she softly repeated her usual prayer. The 
gentleman, who is not a Christian, looked 



112 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

at her for a moment, and then, turning to 
me, as the tears gathered in his eyes, said, 
^^That is very sweet.'' 

I wonder how many little Christian 
children in America would have acted 
just as our Annie did. Do you not think 
you would have been in too great a hurry 
to get to the breakfast-table, when you 
knew the rest were almost finished, to 
stop for praying? Or do you not sup- 
pose you would have been startled by 
a stranger coming in, and would have 
jumped up off your knees ? 

I hope dear Annie's example will help 
you, my dear children, and that prayer 
for you, as for her, will be something so 
sweet, and so sacred, that nothing can 
hinder you in your devotions. 
Ever your loving 

Grandma. 



EARTHQUAKES IN JAPAN. II3 



XIV. 

Yokohama, March 12, 1873. 
My dear Bertie: 

It seems a long while since I wrote to 
any of the little folks at home, but I know 
you are all too kind and generous to feel 
vexed or cross about it. You hear from 
me very often through mamma's letters, 
and you know what a large family we 
are getting, and how much work I have 
to do nowadays. 

... I don't think I have ever told 
you anything about the severe earthquakes 
we have in Japan. I think in this let- 
ter I must try and give you some little 
idea of Ihese sources of terror and ex- 
pense in this land. 
8 



114 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

This empire of Japan^ although a com- 
paratively small country, is composed of 
nearly four thousand islands, large and 
small, lying along the eastern coast of 
Asia, in the Pacific Ocean. It is only 
the four largest of these islands, however, 
that are generally included in what we 
call Japan. They are all very rough and 
irregular, and have no doubt been fornied 
by being thrown up by terrible earth- 
quakes. 

There have been several volcanoes 
among these islands, that are now ex- 
tinct, but there are yet some that send 
up their smoke and fire continually. All 
this proves that there are great internal 
fires, and it is, no doubt, because of these 
that the earthquakes are so constantly 
felt. 

In our part of America, anytRing like 
an earthquake is very rarely known, and so 



EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKES. II5 

you have never had any experience of 
them. 

I don't suppose any description I can 
give w^ill enable you to realize how strange 
and dreadful it is to have the house rock- 
ing over your head; the pictures on the 
v^alls sw^inging backw^ard and forward; 
the timbers creaking and straining as if 
they must all come apart; to look out 
the window, and see the trees and bushes 
shaking from one side to the other All 
this, I think, we must see and feel our- 
selves, before we can know how dread- 
ful it is ; but sometimes even worse things 
happen. 

That is what I want to tell you, and 
then you can see why it costs so much 
money to live here. Often these earth- 
quakes shake the entire roof from a house; 
and the w^ay it comes is this: The houses 
here are built very differently from Amer- 



ii6 grandmamma's letters. 

ican houses. They put a rough board 
covering on the top; over that they lay a 
thick coat of soft, black mud, and then, in 
the mud, they lay the hard, stone tiles, 
that you w^ill see in the pictures, and w^hich 
make the roofs look so pretty. After 
some time the mud gets very dry, and be- 
comes just like dust, and then if an earth- 
quake comes and shakes the house hard, 
the whole roof v^ill slide right off down 
upon the ground. 

Not only this, but often the chimneys 
tumble down, and the plaster falls off the 
sides of the house; the fences are thrown 
down, and in many ways a great deal of 
damage is done. Sometimes we cannot 
help feeling a little discouraged. We get 
the masons and carpenters to work, and, 
with a great deal of trouble, we succeed 
in getting every thing all nicely repaired, 
and then, perhaps, in two or three days. 



A SAFE REFUGE. II7 

another storm or earthquake will come, 
and undo all our work again. 

Yet we try to be patient. We always 
feel so thankful, after it is over, that no 
person has been hurt; and it gives us oc- 
casion to prove our trust in God. David 
said in one of his sweet psalms, ^^There- 
fore will not WG fear, though the earth be 
removed, and though the mountains be 
carried into the midst of the sea; '' and it is 
always very sweet for me to repeat those 
words, and to feel that God is our refuge. 

One night we were all quietly sleep- 
ing, when there came one of the severest 
shocks I have ever felt. Our children are 
so used to them that they do not often 
get frightened; but it was very startling 
to be fairly shaken out of a sound sleep, 
and some of them began to scream and 
run wildly about; this frightened others, 
and soon there was a terrible commotion. 



ii8 grandmamma's letters. 

We always keep a hanging light burning 
in the hall^ and in a moment or two every 
woman and child Avas gathered there. 

We took the poor little scared crea- 
tures in our arms, and, hushing their fears 
as well as we could, we tried to tell them 
of the loving care of the great God who 
can take up in His hand all these thou- 
sands of islands " as a very little thing/' 
and yet never forgets even one of His little 
helpless children. 

How sweet it is to trust in Him, and 
to know that we are always safe in His 
hands! ... 

Ever your loving 

Graj^dma. 



HAPPINESS IN DOING GOOD. II9 



XV. 

Yokohama, April 20, 1873. 



Dear Mary : 



I know you will let Bertie and Kittie 
feel that this letter is partly theirs; but 
sometimes I like to send one just directed 
to one of you, so that you can feel more 
as if I was thinking of, and talking to 
you all by yourself. And then it gives 
you the opportunity to be generous, and 
let others share your happiness. 

I want you to learn this while you are 
young, and as you grow older you will 
find there is no pleasure so great as that 
we enjoy in making others happy. Those 
people who are selfish, and always try- 
ing to study what will please and gratify 



I20 grandmamma's letters. 

themselves, are very far from being the 
happiest persons; and if you w^ill take 
grandma's experience and advice as your 
rule, 3^ou will alv^ays try to put yourself 
last, and seek to please others first. But 
I am not going to preach a sermon to you, 
and I will now do what I first commenced 
this letter for, and that is, tell you about 
a picnic our little folks had on our beau- 
tiful lawn. 

You know^ we have very large grounds 
about this new house, and at the back of 
it, — which is really not at all like the back 
of a house, only we have to call it so, — 
there is a large, circular plot of grass. 
Around this is a wide gravelled road for 
carriages, that can come in the large gate, 
and drive close up to the back door. 

Then, outside of the carriage-road are 
large beds, filled with all kinds of beau- 
tiful shrubs and evergreen trees, with 



A TEA-PARTY. 121 

some flowers. Among these^ too, there 
are piled up, as only the Japanese know- 
how to do, common, rough stones, that are 
covered with beautiful little vines and 
plants, growing out of the crevices, filled 
with earth. Some of these are very curi- 
ously arranged, and all look so pretty 
among the trees and bushes, that I often 
wish the gardeners in America knew how 
to use rough stones as the Japanese do. 

All this makes a very pleasant place to 
play, and our children do not need to go 
away from home for pleasure; but as we 
like to do all we can to make them happy, 
we thought we would give them a tea- 
party out on the lawn, and let them have 
a good frolic among the trees. 

We had a great tall bamboo pole set 
up in the middle of the grass circle, and 
by cords and pulleys raised our beautiful 
flag, with its stars and stripes, to the top 



122 grandmamma's LETTERS. 

of it, and when it floated out in the breeze, 
we almost felt like teaching the girls to 
^^ hurrah/' as the boys do ; for we never can 
look upon our own flag without longing 
to hear some one shout. Around the flag- 
pole we had beautiful twigs and bushes 
twined for some distance from the ground, 
and then some pretty little evergreens set 
out all about it, so that it looked as if it 
stood in a miniature forest. 

Then we set a long table at one side, 
and on it we had all the flowers, vines, 
and wreaths that we could get or con- 
trive. We had bread, with nice jam spread 
on it (the Japanese never eat butter), 
crackers, cakes of many kinds, oranges, 
nuts, and a good many varieties of candy, 
which the native bakers make. These 
candies are very harmless and very cheap, 
yet very pretty. They do not have much 
susrar in them, but are made nearly all of 



THE CHILDREN AND THE TABLE. 1 23 

millet and rice-flour. I never saw any 
table look prettier than ours did, and we 
were all so glad, for you see the Japanese 
people never sit at a table when they eat, 
and none of our girls had ever seen a 
large table so prettily ornamented before. 
We want them to know how nice it is to 
live like civilized people, and so we are 
trying in this way to show them. 

The children were all dressed in their 
best clothes, and although all their dresses 
are dark, mostly blue, yet they generally 
wear a bright obiy or sash, and something 
bright fastened in their hair. This makes 
them look quite pretty, and when they 
were all together, out on the lawn, play- 
ing pretty games, we ladies thought it 
was as beautiful a sight as we could 
desire, although there were no rich and 
elegant garments among them. 
' They had all sorts of plays, and if I 



124 grandmamma's letters. 

had time, I would like to describe some 
of them, they are so queer; but I can- 
not do it now. After playing, and sing- 
ing, and doing just as they pleased for a 
long time, we directed them to sit down 
right on the grass, in a half circle, around 
the table, and then the ladies helped them 
to all the good things. And it was very 
pleasant to see how quiet and polite they 
were; no haste, no selfishness, no fault- 
finding, as I have sometimes seen among 
the children in America, at picnics or 
parties, but all so happy, and careful to 
do exactly as they were told. 

When the tea was over, they had a 
merry chase around the flag-pole, another 
game or two, some singing, and then the 
picnic was over, and the little ones went 
to bed, and the larger girls to the study- 
room, to get their lessons for the next 
day. 



A GOOD TIME. I25 

Now, don't you think the children here 
have a good time, and are you not glad 
grandma is here to help make them happy? 
I am sure you are; and now I can only 
say, I hope our dear Father in heaven 
will give you, and each one of my dear 
children, many happy and useful days. 
Your affectionate 

Grandma. 



126 grandmamma's letters. 



XVI. 

Shidzooka, May 9, 1873. 
My dear Children : 

As you will see from this date, I am 
writing from a new place. This is Mr. 

C 's home; and as I am a sort of 

mother to him now, I came here to see 
how nice he lives, and enjoy the pleasm'e 
of travelling in Japan. Well, pleasure it 
is; though if I could tell you all the dis- 
comforts by the way, you would wonder 
how I could say so; but I am so desirous 
of seeing the country, and getting ac- 
quainted with all the customs and habits 
of the people, that I am quite willing to 
bear some inconveniences. 

I have written a very long letter about 



VISIT TO AN OLD TEMPLE. 1 27 

this old City, and ray experiences in getting 
here, and I suppose you little folks will 
hear papa or mamma read that; but I am 
going to tell you just two things that have 
happened since I came, which I think it 
will please you to read about. 

The first is a visit to an old temple, 
and the ride in going and coming away. 

Mr. C is occupied every day in his 

school, and so he asked a young Japanese 
gentleman to go with me, and show me 
the very large temple which is one of 
the great objects of interest in this great 
city. 

I ought to tell you first, however, that 
Shidzooka is a very large city, about one 
hundred miles south of Yokohama, and 
is celebrated because it was the home of 
the first Tycoon, who built here a grand 
castle, with three great moats, or canals, 
around it. The castle is now all in ruins; 



128 grandmamma's letters. 

a great heap of immense stones, with vines 
and bushes growing all over them. 

Mr. C — — 's house is built on one corner 
of the outermost wall of the moat, and 
from it I can look in one direction far 
off over the city; in the other, over the 
successive moats and intervening grounds, 
I see those wild and grand old ruins. 

But about the temple. We started in 
our jin-ri-ki-sha; but no sooner were 
we outside of the wall of the moat, than 
the people began to see that some strange 
being was among them; for you must 
know I was the first foreign lady who had 
ever been in that city. 

They tried to run after us, men, women, 
and children, the crowd getting larger 
and larger every moment. Our coolies 
seemed to understand that this was very 
disagreeable to me, and tried to go very 
fast, and through back streets, but it did 




j^IDING IN A TiN-RI-KI-SHA. 
(From a Pliotograph.) 



A CURIOUS CROWD. I3I 

not prevent their following, though we 
reached the temple, and got inside the 
gate a little ahead. 

I wish I could tell you all about the 
temple, which is remarkable for its im- 
mense size and great number of apart- 
ments, but I have not time. After we 
had gone all over it, we went towards the 
front porch, when I heard such a noise, 
talking, and shouting, and the clattering 
of wooden clogs upon the stone pavement 
of the court, that I could not summon 
courage to go out there. I asked the gen- 
tleman if there was not a back door; but, 
after going away to inquire, he told me 
this was the only way, and so I was obliged 
to go out. 

O, what a sea of faces appeared before 
me as I stepped upon that porch, and 
every one so curious, so noisy, and for 
aught I could tell, so angry j for you know 



132 grandmamma's letters. 

all over this country there are a great 
many who hate foreigners^ and are not 
willing to let them travel among them. I 
could see, too, that the gentleman who 
was with me was getting very nervous, 
and, indeed, it required a good deal of 
courage for him to conduct me about 
under all the circumstances. Beyond the 
noise, and crowding close to get a good 
look at me, taking hold of my garments, 
and even catching at my hands, to see, I 
suppose, if I was really flesh and blood, 
there was nothing to excite fear, or that 
showed any unkindness. 

We got safely into the jin-ri-ki-sha^ 
and once more started through the streets, 
the same crowd running as hard as they 
could to keep up with the coolies. On 
the way back, I wanted to call and see 
the father and mother of one of the young 
Christian men in Yokohama, who had very 



A PERPLEXING PRESENT. I33 

earnestly desired me to do so. They were 
delighted to see me when they found I 
knew their son so well; and when I ex- 
pressed, as mere politeness, my admira- 
tion of a beautiful rose-tree, which was 
growing beside the door, the father ran 
away, and in a moment came back with 
a large knife, and before I could imagine 
what he was going to do, he cut it right 
off close to the ground, and, with its great 
clusters of magnificent flowers, presented 
it to me, with a most profound bow. 
When I tell you that roses are just be- 
ginning to be cultivated in Japan, and the 
people prize them very highly, you will 
understand what an expression of polite- 
ness and pleasure this was. 

What to do with the great bush I did 

not know; but finally asked Mr. H if 

he could take it in \\\s jin-ri-ki-sha. Upon 
this, the gentleman of the house ran away 



134 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

again^ and came back with a strong cord; 
with this he tied the rose-bush upon the 
top of the Jin-ri'ki'sha^ so that it formed 
a beautiful canopy over his head. 

Then w^e started for home ; but the 

flowers made Mr. H 's jin-ri-ki-sha 

even more an object of attraction than I 
was, and the poor fellow was so com- 
pletely worried, or scared, I do not exactly 
know which, by all the excitement and 
commotion of our excursion, that when 
we reached our home he was as pale as 
a ghost, and for two or three days was 
really quite unwell. 

Another event occurred the other even- 
ing, that I want to tell you about. That 
was a musical party, which was gotten up 

by some of Mr. C 's Japanese friends, 

to let us hear something of their kind of 
music. I have told you, in other letters, 
that the Japanese never sing. ' Well, this 



MUSIC. 135 

is true of what we call singing; yet they 
have some rude and queer musical instru- 
ments, and practise a strange 'kind of low, 
monotonous humming, which they call 
singing, but which really has not the first 
idea of true music in it. The men who 
performed on the instruments showed con- 
siderable skill, and it was a great gratifi- 
cation to me to see their ancient and 
curious mode of performance. 

I was more interested, however, in the 
part of the entertainment which showed 
how the ladies of the higher classes in 
Japan are educated, and what their ideas 
of musical performances are. 

There were five ladies; one the w^ife of 

one of Mr. C 's interpreters, a bright, 

sprightly little thing, not more than fifteen 
or sixteen years old, and the others all 
plain, middle-aged women. 

I wish I could picture the group, as they 



136 grandmamma's letters. 

sat upon the floor in a half circle; one 
with a koto^ a long, flat instrument, with 
strings like a harp; two of thera with a 
samisen^ very like a banjo, the other two 
to do the singing, or humming, as I should 
call it. The little wife would have been 
very pretty, with her bright eyes, red 
cheeks, and rich, fanciful dress; but she 
had black teeth, colored, as all the married 
women must do, with some unfortunate 
preparation, and this made her look to me 
very disagreeable and ugly. They played 
and sang a great many diflferent pieces, 
but they seemed very nearly alike to me, 
and I was more gratified by the oppor- 
tunity to see and hear what was so novel 
to me, than with the performance itself. 
After the singing, the little wife danced 
one of the strange dances of Japan. I 
cannot attempt to describe it, it was so 
singular and curious. It was intended to 



A PLEASANT VISIT. I37 

express, by acting, the history of a battle, 
a love story, and a death. 

Altogether, my visit in Shidzooka was 
one of very great pleasure and interest to 
me, and if you want to know more, you 
must get some one to read my letters to 
the big folks. 

And now I must once more bid you 
good-by, and ask our dear Father to take 
good care of all my precious ones " over 
the sea." 

Always, with warmest love, 

Grandma. 



138 grandmamma's letters. 



XVII. 

Yokohama, May 16, 1873. 
My dear Young Friends : 

I wonder if the " little ones '' in the dear 
home-land, who, w^ith loving hearts and 
nimble fingers, did so much towards fill- 
ing the boxes that came to this " Island of 
the Sea," would not like to hear some- 
thing about ^^ the children's table '' in our 
Bazaar. I am sure they will be very glad 
and thankful to know that all their gifts 
came to us safely, and that it did us ^^ good 
like a medicine,'^ to see so many pretty 
and useful things that we knew were made 
by little fingers. I took a great deal of 
pains to show them to all the little girls in 
our Home, and to have them understand 



THE BAZAAR. I39 

that the children in far-off America had 
been saving up their money, and spending 
their time to prepare all those gifts, be- 
cause they loved tkem^ and wanted to 
help to keep them in this pleasant Home, 
where they are taught of Jesus and his 
love. 

We gathered all the articles we fancied 
had been made by little fingers, and placed 
them in the middle of one of the long 
tables of our ^^ Bazaar." How pretty was 
the sight of so many beautiful dolls, and 
their clothes, and their little bedsteads, 
and all the things children love so well! 
Then we told our little girls we would 
let them sell the pretty things, and how 
pleased and happy that made them, you 
can hardly imagine. As we have so many 
children, we arranged that they should 
take turns in selling, and placed some of 
the smallest on chairs near the larger ones. 



140 grandmamma's letters. 

Dear Miss Guthrie had a busy time in 
directing all of them, and seeing that they 
were all dressed in their very best clothes; 
for you see, we wanted our children to 
look as well, when they were going to see 
strangers, as the dear mothers at home do. 

Sometimes it would be Minnie, Sono, 
Fannie, and Annie; then, Sake, Bessie, 
Mary, Hanna, and Nina, would take their 
turn; then, perhaps, there would be Jen- 
nie and Ilo, and Kai and Haru, or little 
Mabel and Mamie, and Kiku, Maggie, 
Yasu, Sie, would come; and so, for the 
three days of our Bazaar, each afternoon 
our dear children had just the happiest 
time you can think of. 

I believe it made the ladies who came 
to purchase think more about our Home 
and school. I feel quite sure, if we have 
another sale like that, they will be more 
glad to help us than they were before; for 



THE LITTLE ONES MADE HAPPY. I4I 

now they know just how happy it is for 
little children to be here/ rather than in 
their dark heathen homes. So you see, 
my dear young friends, you have not only 
helped us to get some money to build more 
rooms, so that we can receive into our 
" Home " all who desire to come here, but 
you have also given to our little ones three 
of the brightest days they have ever 
known. 

May the dear Saviour bless each one of 
you, and help you to send up to Him ear- 
nest prayers that all our dear family may 
become His own children. 

Ever your loving friend, 

M. P. 



142 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



XVIII. 

Yokohama, July 10, 1873. 
My dear Ones at Home : 

Once more grandma sits down, with 
her pen in hand, to write to her dear little 
children in the precious home in Pearl 
Street. This Home is very dear to me, 
and I am very happy, as I see around me 
so many dear children, and sweet, gentle 
young girls, and know that they are learn- 
ing those truths and those customs that 
must surel}' make them wiser and happier 
than they could be in their heathen homes j 
but still my heart goes far over the sea 
very often, and it is a real comfort when 
I can sit down and have a little talk with 
the children there. 



MINNIE. 143 

I have a very street little story for you 
to-day, and I know you w^ill be glad to 
read it, for it shows you how God is 
making this a real Christian home for the 
dear children who come to it. 

One dear little girl in our " Home/' 
who united with the foreign church, has 
been developing quickly and sweetly in 
her Christian character. For a long time 
I have been in the habit of giving the chil- 
dren a short text to learn each day, 
and repeat at the breakfast-table. Minnie 
sleeps in a room adjoining mine, and 
always hears the little ones say their morn- 
ing prayers. I used to hear them talking 
and repeating their verses, and did not 
notice anything special. One morning, in 
passing through that room, I found it quite 
full, and the children all seated in their 
chairs in so orderly a way, that I made 
some remark commending themj when 



144 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

Minnie said, ^"^ I had a good many at my 
meeting; there were fourteen here." 
"Your meeting!" I replied; "do you 
have a meeting? '' " O, yes," she an- 
swered; "I have had one for more than 
a week, and they are all beginning to like 
to come." And so, in this quiet, unosten- 
tatious way, she was gathering these dear 
children each morning, for "a little talk 
with Jesus." Was it not sweet, and do 
you not quite agree with me that the dear 
Lord Jesus sent that child to be a comfort 
and help to us? 

With love to you all, 

Grandma. 



CHRISTMAS. 145 



XIX. 

Yokohama, January 4, 1874. 

Dear Children : 

While everything connected with our 
pleasant Christmas is fresh in my mind, I 
want to have a chat with the kind friends, 
especially the ^Mittle ones" who sent all 
the pretty things for our bazaar a year ago. 
I suppose it seems a long time to them, 
and perhaps they thought they would never 
hear any more of their work. Yet I have 
a good deal to tell them of the happiness 
their gifts conferred upon the dear chil- 
dren and 3^oung girls in our school at 
Christmas eve. When we began to talk 
about a Christmas-tree this year, we were 
quite at a loss to know what to do. You 
10 



146 grandmamma's letters. 

see we had no one at home who had 
promised to send a box of articles for such 
a purpose, as they do for the children in 
India. Many of the sailors who helped us 
last year had gone away, and several rea- 
sons prevented our asking assistance from 
the people here; so we hardly knew how 
we could have a tree. The school has 
grown so much that it was quite impossi- 
ble for the ladies of our family to assume 
the expense. All at once it occurred to 
me that there were some boxes filled with 
articles that were left after the bazaar, 
which we had very carefully put away, 
hoping some time to receive more goods, 
and have another sale. So we talked about 
it, and came to the conclusion that those 
who sent the articles would like to have 
such as were suitable for gifts used for 
that purpose. In looking over the things, 
we were surprised and delighted to find 



CURIOSITY OF THE GIRLS. I47 

how many were appropriate, in fact, seemed 
as if they were made for the purpose. 
Now our dear children could have such a 
nice tree and a ^^ Merry Christmas '' like 
the little people in America. 

There were many wise and curious 
looks from the little ones. Many little 
heads were peering around every time the 
door of a certain room was opened, and 
many surmises, if a piece of wrapping- 
paper or a bundle was seen. You see 
that little Japanese girls are exactly like 
our American children in such things, and 
although they were never obtrusive or 
selfish, 3^et they were very curious. 

Miss Crosby agreed to adorn the school- 
room, and asked a number of girls to ar- 
range greens in wreaths, and sew them on 
pasteboard letters. That, you know, is a 
good deal of work; it kept them very busy; 
but how well they did it! A number of 



148 grandmamma's letters. 

persons said they had never seen so pretty 
a room. 

But I have been going too fast. I must 
go back and tell you what a merry time 
some of the girls and younger children 
had, ^^ popping'' corn and stringing it for 
the tree. It was great fun for them, for 
many of them had never seen such a thing 
before. The best of that " pop-corn '' to 
me was, that it grew on our own farm. 
General Capron gave me some seed, and 
I, thinking all the time of the pleasure it 
would give, had a good deal planted, and 
now we have enjoyed it just as I knew we 
would. Then we made large bags of 
mosquito-netting, and filled them with pop- 
corn and Japanese candy, and hung them 
on the tree, one for every child. 

At last the tree was all ready, and I am 
very sure if our dear friends at home could 
have seen the happy faces that filled the 



WHAT ONE LITTLE GIRL DID. I49 

room as the gifts were all distributed, with 
the cakes and fruits we provided, they 
would not only have been glad that so 
many things were left from the bazaar, but 
they would have said, ^^ I mean to try and 
help in providing a tree next year.'' And 
this is just what we want you to do; for 
unless some one helps us, we cannot have 
these pleasures. I will tell you how one 
little girl helped us. She lives in Albany, 
and often sends me letters and gifts. But 
at last she had a Fair in her papa's gar- 
den, and her little brother and sister 
helped her, and they not only had a pleas- 
ant time, but she raised sixteen dollars, 
which she sent me ^^to use for the chil- 
dren." 

Your loving frieud, 

M. Pruyn. 



150 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



XX. 

Yokohama, February 18, 1874. 

My dear Children : 

Once more Grandma has a story to tell 
her little childrei) " at home.'' How she 
does love to talk with them^ and how nice 
it is to sit down here at this pretty desk, 
and say things on paper that will go all 
the way across the great ocean, and be 
read by the dear ones there. The only 
thing that is not pleasant is, that all " the 
talk '' must be on one side. I cannot 
hear your voices, telling me what you 
think, and how you are spending your 
time. But sometimes when I get your 
letters, and read your " talk '' to Grandma, 
I feel paid richly for those I send to you. 



A GOOD CHILD. I5I 

And now to my story. It is about one 
of our little girls, and I am going to let 
you guess which one it is; and I don't 
think it will be hard to do that, for I have 
written a good many times about her. 

She has a father who came from Scot- 
land, and drinks very hard. The doctor 
said he feared he would die soon if he did 
not stop, so I have tried to get him to 
make a will, and provide for his little girl 
after he is dead; but he does not believe 
he is in any danger, and has not yet done 
anything for her. 

He has plenty of money now, but if he 
dies without a will, his little girl cannot 
have any of it, for her mother is a Jap- 
anese: and then she will be a poor child, 
and have to be supported by charity. 

He wanted to have his little daughter 
come and see him last month, when he 
was very sick, and I could not refuse, 



152 grandmamma's letters. 

though I did not like to have her stay 
even one night with such a bad father. 

After she came home^ I did not hear 
anything from him for about tw^o wrecks. 
Then I saw the doctor, and inquired about 
him, and asked the doctor if he would not 
try and get hini to make a will, so that his 
little girl would not be left penniless. 

The doctor promised to do what he 
could, but he said, ^^ I do not think Mr. 

is going to die now. lie has stopped 

drinking, and there seems to be a great 
change in him." 

I was very glad to hear this, but did not 
know how to account for it till a day or 
two ago. The dear child was getting 
ready to go again to see him, and while 
waiting for something, she began to sing, 
^' There is a happ}^ land.'' I said, ^^ When 
you are with your papa, you must sing 
that for him, and ask him if he wants to 
go to that ^ happy land.' " 



A LITTLE WORKER FOR JESUS. 1 53 

^^Yes/' she said; '^and Til tell him he 
must love Jesus^ or he can't go.'' And 
then, after a moment, she said, " Last time, 
when I went to my papa's house, I told 
him he must pray to Jesus, and he said he 
would." 

"Did you sing for him?" I asked. 

" O yes," she said, " I sing and I pray, 
and I make my papa pray too." 

Can this not be the secret of the change 
the doctor spoke of? I thought. Is not 
the influence of this dear child the cord 
by which God is lifting this ungodly father 
up to a purer and better life? I do hope 
it may prove so, and we will all rejoice 
and praise God. 

I have just had a petition brought to 
me; and what do you think it was? As 
I was sitting writing, a soft knock was 
heard, and when I said. Come, the door 
was opened, and five little faces peeped in. 



154 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

all full of fun and glee; and one said, 
" Mrs. Pruyn^ can't we play tea-party this 
afternoon?'' Now, I suppose you know 
that tea-party means little dishes, cakes, 
and nuts, and all the good things that 
'^^ mother " can find for the little ones. I 
did ^vant so much to be quiet, and write 
this afternoon, but I could not resist all 
these dear little faces; and so the dishes 
were taken out, the Japanese tables and 
bamboo stools were carried among the 
bushes on the other side of the lawn, and 
some crackers, grapes, and chestnuts were 
put on little waiters; and now there are 
sixteen as happy children as one could 
ever see, playing out in that pleasant 
place. 

But all this has taken the time I meant 
for you, and so I must close my letter, 
with love to all from 

Grandmother. 



FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL IN JAPAN. 155 



XXI. 

Yokohama, March i8, 1874. 
To THE DEAR TeACHERS AND SCHOLARS OF 

THE Industrial, Schools of Albany : 

I did not need the contribution of your 
^^mite boxes'' to assure me of your kind 
remembrance of me and my work, but it 
awakened ray gratitude^ and prompts me 
to tell you some of the blessings our 
dear Lord Jesus sends to us in these far 
away " Islands of the Sea.'' 

I could not tell 3'Ou all the Lord is do- 
ing for uSj for His mercies are more than 
can be numbered ; nor will I write at this 
time about our Home^ and Day School, 
for you have already heard cons*iderable 
of them; but I know you will be glad to 



156 grandmamma's letters. 

learn that away off here in Japan we have 
a real live Sabbath school, and of that I 
want to write now. 

The history of this people goes away 
back a good many hundred years before 
Christ was born, so that when He came to 
this world, they were already an old na- 
tion; and yet do you know that the chil- 
dren in Japan have never heard of the 
dear Saviour, who, when he was on earth, 
showed such love for little children! 

Even since the Christian missionaries 
came here, and taught a few of the large 
people the precious truths of the Bible, 
the children did not seem to be reached. 

Well, you know our Home was opened 
especially for them, and so we feel that in 
every way possible we must try and do 
good to the children. 

And thus it was that we decided to 
commence a Sabbath school, the first one 
ever opened in Japan. 



OPENING OF THE SCHOOL. I57 

For although there are a number of 
persons now teaching in various places 
and ways, and there are some classes of 
young men who meet for Bible study on 
the Sabbath, yet ours is the only real Sab- 
bath school in the country that is con- 
ducted just as those are in America, which 
are so ver}^ pleasant and useful. 

If you were to make us a visit, you 
would find, if you wished to see the open- 
ing of the school, you must be here 
promptly at half past three in the after- 
noon. The Japanese know nothing of the 
value of titne, and punctuality is one of 
the hardest things for them to learn; so 
that we are very particular in counting the 
moments in all our dealings with them. 

You would see a large, bright, cheery 
room, filled with little chairs and stools, 
for we do not let our children or their 
friends sit upon the floor, as they do in 



158 grandmamma's letters. 

their own houses or temples; the desks 
which are used during the week are all 
set back against the wall, and only the 
middle of the room is occupied with seats. 

There is a platform at one end, and on 
it a table with a Bible, hymn-book, and 
bell, and also a couple of large straw 
chairs. By the side of the platform stands 
a small organ, that would seem a very 
poor one, I suppose, in Albany, but it 
serves our purpose very well till we can 
get a better one. 

About forty come together now, but the 
number increases so fast that, by the time 
you read this, there may be a great many 
more. Some are quite small, and others 
quite grown-up persons. They all sit 
together till after the opening exercises, 
which are very much like those in the 
Sunday schools at home. Then the classes 
form, and the jsmallest scholars go into 



INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN. 1 59 

another room with their teacher. This is 
our infant department 5 and a nicer^ more 
properly behaved^ and bright little com- 
pany you could not find anywhere. 

There are only three classes in the large 
room, each sitting in a circle around the 
teacher; but if you could see the eager, 
pleasant faces of the scholars turned 
towards that teacher, and hear the intelli- 
gent questions asked and answered by 
them, you would think the hour spent 
there a delightful one for both teachers 
and scholars. 

When the hour is ended, no one seems 
tired, or in a hurry to get away; but punc- 
tuality is our rule; and then we like to 
have them hungry when they stop study- 
ing the Bible, for if so, they will be more 
likely to come the next Sunday. 

Our closing exercises always seem very 
pleasant, and often we have visitors come 



i6o grandmamma's letters. 

in, who express a great deal of satisfaction 
and interest. Each class and each scholar 
repeats a text that has been given them 
the Sabbath before; a hymn is sung; the 
Creed is repeated by the school, standing, 
and the Lord's Prayer, all kneeling. I 
should say that before these exercises 
commence, the little children take their 
places again in the large room. 

Thus closes our Sabbath school at five 
o'clock, and I am sure every teacher and 
scholar feels that it has been a privilege 
and pleasure to have been there. 

And now, dear children, I thank you 
most heartily for the pennies you saved 
and sent to me. I know you have very 
few, and I think the dear Lord will value 
your gifts more highly than those from 
children who have rich fathers and moth- 
ers, and plenty of good things. 

I do desire that your faith and prayers 



PRAYER ANSWERED. l6l 

may be constantly brought to God, as a 
precious and acceptable offering for this 
cause. No money of yours, no labor of 
ours, will be of any value without the 
blessing of the Holy Spirit's power to ac- 
company both; and I rejoice to believe 
that prayer is made for us by so many at 
home. I see in the wonderful blessings 
that have come upon this work the an- 
swers to those prayers, and I praise God 
for the dear, loving Christian friends in 
America, and especially in my own city, 
who so constantly bear us upon their 
hearts before the Mercy-seat. 

That all your loving deeds and prayerful 
sympathy may return in rich and abid- 
ing blessings upon your own hearts and 
schools, is the fervent prayer of 

Your ever affectionate friend, 

Mary Pruyn. 
II 



l62 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



XXII. 

Yokohama, August 20, 1874. 
My dear Little Ones : 

After a long absence from this home, I 
am once more seated at my little desk to 
write to you, my dear children in the home 
far over the sea. It is a pleasure to hear 
that you love to read my letters, and it 
makes me more desirous to tell you all I 
can about this beautiful country and these 
people, whom I am learning to love so 
much. 

The place I have been visiting now is 
one of the most lovely and celebrated in 
Japan. It is the village of Hakone, far up 
on the mountains, which have the same 
name, and on the shore of a most charm- 



JAPANESE HOUSES. 163 

ing lake. It is about forty miles from 
Yokohama, and being so high, is very cool 
and delightful in the hot season. For this 
reason many foreign people go up there 
in the summer time, to get awa}^ from the 
great heat of the cities. 

The people are glad to rent their houses 
to the visitors, for they are very poor, and 
it is hard to make a living up there. I 
wish I could describe one of the houses 
to you, for one is a type of all. 

The outside is not at all pretty — a 
low, dark-looking building, with a heavy 
thatched roof projecting over the front. 
As you go in, you see all the work of 
cooking, washing, &c. going on. You pass 
through a long, dark apartment, very large 
and very gloomy, where the family live 
during the daytime. 

But, coming out at the back part of the 
house, you find it very different. Here 



164 grandmamma's letters. 

are pleasant and beautifully clean apart- 
inentSj which can be made large or small, 
just as one desires, by means of sliding 
paper doors. A narrow veranda runs 
across the back part of the house, and this 
is the usual sitting-place for the foreigners, 
who hire these houses to live in while 
they stay up on the mountains. 

It is very pretty and comfortable when 
you get past the kitchen part, and look out 
upon the picturesque garden, which almost 
every Japanese house has behind it. Our 
mountain home had one that was very 
small, but it was large enough to have a 
lake, several little islands, some rustic 
bridges, two or three waterfalls, with 
shrubs and trees trained in many fantas- 
tic ways; and all this in a space not more 
than thirty feet square. 

The Japanese do these things most per- 
fectly, and the smaller the scale, the more 
beautiful ever3^thing seems. 



LAKE HAKONE. 1 65 

The Lake of Hakone is like a diamond 
with the richest emerald setting. A love- 
ly sheet of water^ with grand old moun- 
tains rising all around it, covered with 
thick, rich grass and evergreens. 

There are many places up there that I 
would like to tell 3^ou about. The fine 
old temples away up on the sides of the 
mountains; the immense stone images 
along the shores of the lake; the wild and 
desolate region called O'Jin-Oku, or the 
"Great Hell/' because it is literally a 
place of "fire and brimstone/' the smoke 
coming out in small jets all over the place, 
and the boiling-hot sulphur water pouring 
out of the rocks in many places, while the 
noise made by the roaring of the internal 
fires is equal to a steam-engine. I would 
tell you, too, of the grand view we had of 
the sacred mountain Fusiyama, when we 
clambered up to the top of one of the lesser 



1 66 grandmamma's letters. 

mountains on the shore of the lake; but 
all this I must pass over, for I want to tell 
you of something that will show you what 
darkness these people are in, although they 
have so much about them that ought to 
teach them of the true God. 

One day I was sitting in the back part 
of my house, when I heard a great noise, 
and saw the people in the kitchen all run- 
ning to the street. 

I went out to see what was the matter, 
and found a great crowd gathered right in 
front of the door. At first I could not tell 
what it meant; but pretty soon I saw that 
there was a " god's carriage '' standing 
upon the ground, and a great company 
of men dancing around it. 

The god from one of the large temples 
vvas being carried about for a ride, and 
the people on such occasions are very 
glad to have him stop near their houses, 



A SAD SIGHT. 167 

for they think it will bring a blessing. 
The man that kept our house, I think, had 
invited them to rest there, and offered to 
give saki to those v^ho v^ere carrying the 
god. And so they stopped to drink, and 
dance, and shout, just like so many 
demons. 

As I looked at the wretched creatures, 
I could hardly think they were men. It 
was the most dreadful exhibition of heathen 
idolatry I have ever seen; and O, how it 
made my heart ache for the poor, ignorant 
creatures that can call that worship! 

But there is a bright side to my visit up 
on those beautiful mountains; and so I 
must tell you that the true light of the 
gospel is beginning to shine up there. 

We had meetings for the women in our 
rooms every day and evening, and Mrs. 

P , with two of our dear Christian girls, 

told to all the people who came the ^^ sweet 



i68 grandmamma's letters. 

story of old," and sang many of our pre- 
cious Sunday-school hymns for them. 

Then our good Tokiche, who came with 
me and two other young Christian men, 
had meetings in a room, in another part 
of the village, and a great many men 
went there every night to hear the gospel 

preached. After a while, too, Mr. B 

came up there, and as he can talk their 
language well, he was able to teach them 
very plainly. 

We are all thankful that God made the 
people willing to listen to the truth, and 
we know that a few have put away their 
idols, and are determined to worship the 
true God. We hope and pray that soon 
all the people will do this, for God has 
promised in His word that He will give 
Japan to Jesus for His possession. Do 
not cease to pray for this, my dear chil- 
dren, and also for 

Your loving Grandma. 



THE MISSION HOME. 169 



XXIII. 

American Mission Home, 
Yokohama, January i8, 1875. 

To THE Sunday School Children in 
America : 

My dear young friends^ an utter stranger 
to you, I still feel that it is my privilege to 
assume that we are friends ; and so I am 
going to write you a good long letter, and 
tell you something about this Home, and 
the work connected with it, in far-off 
Japan. 

I have no greater pleasure than to put 
myself into communication with the dear 
Sunday-school children in America. I 
want them to be helpers with me in this 
blessed work. The only unpleasant feel- 
ing I have in commencing this correspon- 



170 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

dence, is the certainty that I cannot^ by^ 
any written words, give you a just idea of 
the interesting and encouraging features 
of this work, or put before you as distinctly 
as I would like, the happiness of having a 
part in it. God has been so very good to 
us in this Mission Home, and has given us 
so soon to see many of our dear children 
taught to love and pray to Jesus, and it is 
such a real delight to all the ladies who 
are living in the house to have these dear 
young girls and little children right here 
in our own Home, and day by day to see 
them so well, so comfortable, so happy, 
that it always seems as though no one 
could understand it all, unless they could 
come here and see for themselves. 

But this I know you cannot do; and I 
want to help you, if I can, to get ac- 
quainted with us, so that you may feel it a 
pleasure also to do what you can to sup- 



ANXIETY TO KNOW ABOUT JESUS. I7I 

port this Home. God could do all this 
work without money, and He could make 
these Japanese people good and happy 
Christians through the labors of other per- 
sons than the people and children of 
America; but I think He has been very 
kind and condescending, that He has cho- 
sen to give us the privilege, and that He 
will be pleased to use the money which 
even a little child may send from our Sun- 
day schools, to convert and bless the Jap- 
anese. And the reason wh}^ I think this, 
is, because there is no country in the 
world where it is so pleasant to live and 
work for Jesus, and there are no people in 
the world who desire so earnestly to learn 
about Jesus. This seems to be the case 
with all classes; young and old, rich and 
poor, are all equally ready to listen, and 
willing to be convinced. So you see that 
those who work for, and who work in 



172 grandmamma's letters. 

Japan, have every reason to expect their 
work to prosper, and to feel that God is 
specially good to them in giving them 
such pleasant work to do. 

I shall put in this letter a picture^ which 
I want you all to look at carefully, and 
then you will know just how the outside 
of our school looks, and you will be bet- 
ter able to fancy all the bright, happy 
faces that fill it day by day. There are 
only a few figures in the photograph, for 
we could not very well get all our family 
in; but there are enough to show you 
how these children and young ladies look, 
and enable you to judge how very good 
God has been in giving us such a nice 
school-house and such a pleasant home. 

The school is the first and only free 
school ever built for the education of Jap- 
anese girls, though another one is just 

* See frontispiece. 



THE MISSION BUILDING. 1 73 

now commenced; and you will not won- 
der that we feel very desirous that it shall 
be w^ell sustained, prove a great blessing 
in this land, and be an honor and cause 
for praise to the Christian people of 
America, through whose instrumentality 
it was established. The large room, of 
which you see the side, is the school-room 
proper, and in it not only our school as- 
sembles, but all the services of the native 
Christian church are held, except one 
preaching service on Sabbath morning, 
which is held at another place. Here, 
too, our dear Christian girls hold their 
precious prayer-meetings; and our family 
worship on Sunday morning — which is 
really quite a little service, with an audi- 
ence, when all our household are assem- 
bled, of over sixty souls — is also observed 
in this room. The other room — the wing 



174 grandmamma's letters. 

on the rear — is used for the sewing and 
writing department. 

If I had time, I would like to show you 
something of the inside of our dwelling- 
house, especially the girls' study-room, 
when they are all seated around the two 
large tables in the evening, with their 
books, so eager to learn that it is never 
necessary to urge their attention, but rath- 
er to check them, and watch that they 
do not neglect the proper recreation. I 
would like to have you go into our nice, 
new dining-room, that I particularly de- 
light in, and see thirty-six girls and chil- 
dren — who only a short while ago were 
accustomed to sitting upon the floor, and 
any time, without order or idea of propri- 
ety, eating what would satisfy their hun- 
ger with chop-sticks or their fingers — now 
sitting quietly and decorously around the 
tables, with table-cloths, napkins, knives 



GIFTS FROM AMERICA. 1 75 

and forks, eating their food as properly as 
any polite and neat American child could. 
Then I would love to take you in the little 
children's play-room, and let you see as 
merry and bright a little company as could 
be found anywhere, enjoying the gifts that 
kind friends in far-off America sent, and 
which found their way to a Christmas-tree 
a few weeks ago, and were from it distrib- 
uted among our little folks; or I would 
go with you into the sleeping-rooms, and 
show you — particularly in one room — a 
row of little beds, and a row of little 
heads so cunningly nestled in the pillows 
that I never can pass them without stop- 
ping to kiss, and to breathe the prayer, 
^'Dear Jesus, bless our little ones.'' 

But all this, dear friends, you must try 
to imagine, and then consider whether 
you will not help us in this work of edu- 
cating and converting from heathenism to 



176 



GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 



the religion of Jesus the young people of 
Japan. 

I must enclose in this letter still another 
picture, a photograph, of some of our Jap- 




Tapanesb Young Ladies. 

(From a Photograph.) 

anese young ladies, because I think you 

will be interested in seeing how they look. 

I have not told you of what is more 



THE LITTLE GIRL O SONO. 17/ 

precious to me, and I trust will be to you, 
than any temporal blessing or prosperity, 
and that is of the real love for Jesus that 
many of our dear family prove in their 
daily life. Yet I think that I must leave 
that also, and in some future letter give 
you some account of the fruits of this 
Christian life, particularly of the work 
some of our Christian girls are doing in 
visiting, reading the Bible, and praying 
among their people. 

Just now I must tell you something that 
has pleased us all very much, concerning 
a little girl supported by a kind lady in 
America. I am sure you will all be es- 
pecially glad to hear that O'Sono is such 
a bright and good girl, and that we have 
the greatest pleasure in witnessing her 
rapid improvement, and her quick, bright, 
and happy manners. 

About two weeks ago, she went to visit 

12 



178 grandmamma's letters. 

her mother. Her father, who had been a 
rich nobleman, had become very poor; but 
that does not change the character or po- 
sition of people here, and he was just as 
much respected as though he had plenty 
of money. When the war commenced 
with Formosa, he got a good appointment, 
and went with the army to that country, 
but in a few weeks died of fever there. 
And so the poor mother was left alone, 
and now bitterly disappointed in her hope 
of some support for her family. When 
O'Sono was at home, General Saigo, who 
was the commander of the army in For- 
mosa, and a great friend of her father, 
sent for O'Sono to come to his house and 
visit him with her mother. While she 
was there, he examined her in her studies, 
and after a great many questions, and 
hearing her read and sing, he expressed 
himself quite delighted, and said he had 



O'SONO LEARNING ENGLISH. 179 

never heard any native pronounce English 
so well as she did. And then he told her 
that just as soon as she was prepared to 
be a teacher, he would promise to give 
her the best and largest girls' school in 
Satsuma, which is his native province, and 
where he is a very influential and power- 
ful man. You can well suppose that this 
was a great comfort to the poor mother, a 
stimulus to the dear child, an encourage- 
ment to the other girls who are studying 
with a view to becoming teachers, and a 
pleasure to us, who hope, through these 
dear girls, to send out from this Home 
streams of blessings that, by God's favor, 
will reach the utmost bounds of this fair 
land. 

O'Sono came to us two and a half years 
ago, not knowing a word of English, or 
even anything in her own language be- 
yond the merest child's talk. She is now 



i8o grandmamma's letters. 

a little more than eleven years old, and is 
in studies quite as far advanced as most 
girls in American schools at that age, and 
reads at our morning prayers as fluently 
and correctly as any one in the room. 

Thus you v^ill see, my dear friends, how 
we are permitted to see the practical re- 
sults of our interest in these children, and 
I trust the dear Lord will inspire in your 
hearts a purpose to do what you can to 
show your desire for the conversion of 
Japanese children to the Saviour, whom I 
trust you love and serve. 

I am, most truly, your friend in Jesus, 

Mary Pruyn. 



CAUSE FOR ENCOURAGEMENT. l8l 



XXIV. 

Yokohama, January 20, 1875. 
My darling little Kittie : 

What do you think I have to tell you 
now? Why, that we have a little Kittie 
here. Shall I tell you how this came 
about ? 

Well, to begin: a great many of the 
Japanese people are very poor, and they do 
not want any children because it costs 
money to feed them (not to clothe them, 
for not many of the poor children wear 
clothing), and the mother cannot work out 
in the field, or in any way, so well, if she has 
a little baby; and so a great many of these 
people, who are servants, but have wives, 
will not let any babies come to their house, 



i82 grandmamma's letters. 

because they want their wives to help 
them with their work. 

That was the case with some of our 
mien servants; but after they had lived 
here awhile, and learned that it was wicked 
to feel so, and that when God sent little 
children to them, they should be glad, and 
take good care of them, then they felt 
very differently, and became willing to let 
the babies come. 

One of our servants, the " belto " (or 
coachman, as you would call him, for he 
takes care of our good old horse), was a 
very wicked man when he came to live 
with us: but he seems now a different 
person altogether, and I hope he is learn- 
ing to love and serve our God. Last 
week, God sent to him and his wife a dear 
little girl-baby; and now that he finds 
what a pleasant thing it is to have one, he 
is just as happy as he can be; why, he 



KITTIE. 183 

can hardly bear to come out of his own 
little house. He says he never wants to 
go anyvv^here away from his little girl. 

He feels so thankful^ too, because he 
has such a good home and kind friends, 
and says he never could let a baby come 
before, for he had neither time nor money 
to care for one; and the next day after 
the baby was born, he came to my room, 
and got down on his face, as the Japanese 
always do when they want to be very 
respectful, and expressed his gratitude 
over and over again, for the baby, and 
then he said I must give her a name. 

This puzzled me a little; but at last I 
showed him the pretty little frame that 
has Mary's, Bertie's, and your pictures in 
together, and, pointing to yours, I asked 
him if he would like his little girl to have 
the same name as that little girl who lived 
in America. He tried to speak the name 



184 grandmamma's letters. 

KittiCj and after practising a little^ he 
found that he could pronounce it very 
nicely. 

He was perfectly delighted^ and kept 
saying " Arigato, Okusan/' over and over 
again; that means ^^ Thank you, lady;" 
and then he would say, " Oki Arigato;'' 
that is, ^^ large thanks." 

It is a dear little baby, the prettiest 
Japanese child I ever saw, and has skin 
almost as white as yours. Some of these 
days I will have her picture taken and 
send to you, and I am sure it will please 
you. 

Her father talks to all the ladies about 
his Kittie, and never gets tired of calling 
her name. He says, " By-and-by my 
Kittie go to Mrs. Peirson's school, and I 
hope she will be spared to grow up, and 
become a good and wise woman, and do 
a great deal of good." 



A CAUSE FOR PRAISE. 1 85 

And now I want you to call this your 
Japanese baby, and I want you to pray for 
her. You know God hears your prayers, 
for He sent you a dear little sister when 
you asked for her; and so you can pray for 
this little Japanese child, believing that 
God will answer you. This is all you can 
do now, but if she lives to be large enough 
to come into our school, then perhaps you 
can help support her. 

God is very good to me in giving me 
so many dear little children to love, not 
only in my own old home, but here in this 
new one; and I know, too, they love me. 
If you were to see how they come close 
to me, and try to see how many can get 
within the circle of my arms, you would 
be amused, I think. O, if the dear Lord 
Jesus will make you, and them, all lambs 
of His fold, and guide and keep you safe 
from all harm and all sin, so that at last 



1 86 grandmamma's letters. 

we may all gather " around the throne of 
God in heaven/' how I will praise Him! 
And now give kisses and love to all 
at home. 

From your affectionate 

Grandmamma. 



FABULOUS HISTORY OF JAPAN. 187 



XXV. 

Yokohama, February 6, 1875. 
My dear Mary : 

I have been reading in a book, pub- 
lished by an English gentleman, what is 
called " The Fabulous History of Japan/' 
and as I read, I thought I would try and 
write it, in a very simple and plain way, 
for my little folks at home, so that you 
could understand what strange ideas these 
people have concerning the creation and 
their own origin. I may not make it very 
clear to you, for there is so much you 
could not understand which I must leave 
out, and perhaps that will make the story 
seem disconnected, or broken up; but I 
will do the best I can, for I like to have 



i88 grandmamma's letters. 

my letters instructive as well as enter- 
taining. 

You know the Japanese, like all heathen 
nations, are without the Bible, which gives 
the only true account of the creation of 
this world; and they must get their knowl- 
edge from tradition, or information handed 
down from one to another. This kind of 
information is not very reliable, for it is 
so easy for different persons to change 
things as they repeat them. 

How much more safely we can depend 
on our account of the beginning of the 
world, for you know "holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost," and "all Scripture was given 
by inspiration of God,'' and so we are 
sure there is no mistake or change in our 
history. 

In Japanese tradition, the history of the 
creation, and the descent of their emperor, 



JAPANESE TRADITIONS. 189 

are closely connected; for "Nippon," the 
right name of their country, was the world 
to them. 

They say their emperor is descended 
directl)' from the gods, and call him 
" The Teuno/' which means " The son of 
heaven ; " and they used to think their 
people were the only ones who were truly 
wise, and theirs the only country that was 
beloved and favored by the gods. This 
was what made them such a proud people, 
and so unwilling to let foreigners come 
among them. 

The history says, anciently heaven and 
earth were not separated. All was mixed 
together in one mass, in the form of an 
egg; but there were two principles, or 
parts, in this chaos, and, after it had been 
agitated or shaken for a long time, the 
thick and heavy part settled down and 
became the earth, while the airy or light 



IpO GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

part rose up, and became the heavens. 
They say nothing of the creation of the 
waters, though there were some, as you 
will see, afterwards. 

After the heavens and the earth were 
thus divided, a being was born, or ap- 
peared in the heavens, called Kami, and 
this they regard as the beginning of cre- 
ation. But don't you see how foolish this 
is? For who made the egg-shaped mass 
from which the heavens and earth were 
formed? And is it not much more sen- 
sible and reasonable to believe what our 
Bible says, "^^In the beginning God created 
the heavens and the earth"? 

After this Kami appeared, he caused to 
spring up out of an island of soft mud, 
that swam in the waters, a beautiful plant, 
called Ashi. This was then changed into 
a Kami, and he was the first of seven 
celestial spirits, the three first of whom 



FABULOUS HISTORY OF JAPAN. I9I 

reigned each one hundred millions of 
years, and all the others more years than 
could be counted. 

Then arose a male spirit called Izanagi- 
no-Mikoto, and a female spirit, Izanami- 
no-Mikoto. They ascended to the bridge 
of heaven, and looking down, they said, 
^^ Are there not countries and islands down 
there? '^ Upon this they directed down- 
ward a long, heavenly spear, and stiried 
up the bottom of the waters. 

When they drew up the spear, which 
v^as made of red precious stone, some 
drops of soft mud fell from it, and formed 
the island called Ono-koro-shima. Then 
these two spirits descended, and dwelt 
upon it; and this is the centre island of 
the great kingdom of the ^^ Sunrise Land,'' 
or Dai-Nippon. 

There are a great many foolish stories 
in this fabulous history: such as a bird 



192 grandmamma's letters. 

coming down and beating the mud of the 
island hard with his tail; and how these 
two spirits made love to each other; how 
their children multiplied, and in their 
pride they sent one to reign in the sun, 
and another to be the queen of the moon; 
and how the first emperor of Japan came 
from the sun to be the ruler of their 
country: but I have not time to write 
them for you. 

I have told you so much because I want 
you to see how far these people are from 
knowing the truth, and that they are to be 
pitied rather than blamed for not believing 
what they have never been taught. 
Your affectionate 

Grandmamma. 



VISIT TO THE MOUNTAINS. I93 



XXVI. 

June 20, 1875. 
My dear Mary, Bertie, and Kittie : 

You must not think I am always travel- 
ling because I have so much to tell you 
about other places than Yokohama; but I 
love so much to make you feel acquainted 
with Japan, and when I see or enjoy any- 
thing, I always. feel like writing all about 
it to some one of the dear family at home. 

Now I am going to tell you about an- 
other visit I made up on the mountains, 
and some of the funny things that hap- 
pened there. 

I have written before that we have to 
be carried over those mountain roads in 
kagos^ and told you how very uncomforta- 

13 



194 -grandmamma's letters. 

ble they are for those who are not accus- 
tomed to sitting with their feet cramped up 
under them, as the Japanese do. Well, I 
thought I would invent something a little 
easier, and so I got a carpenter to make a 
kago for me quite different, and a good 
deal larger than those generally used. It 
seemed ^^just the very thing'' for comfort, 
but I did not know how strongly these 
people were wedded to their old ideas 
about things, or I would hardly have at- 
tempted any such experiment. 

One day we made up a party to go 
about ten miles off in the mountains, to 
see a place that is wondrously grand and 
wild, and where we had some friends 
staying. A gentleman of the party called 
my kago the ^^ Great Eastern,'' and when 
I saw the others all cramped up in their 
little things, and felt so comfortable in 
mine, I was quite proud, and I fear a little 



THE SPRINGS. I95 

selfish, although I ofFered a good many 
times to let them try it. 

On our way, we passed through a little 
village where there are a great many hot 
sulphur springs, and large bath-houses. 
There are man}^ such places up on those 
mountains, and people come from all parts 
of Japan to get the benefit of the waters. 
But O, what a dreadful sight it was to see 
such a multitude of poor, crippled, dis- 
eased creatures together! Perhaps there 
is no place in the world where there are 
so many persons with dreadful sores all 
over them, as in this country; and all this 
is the effect of their bad way of living. 

As I looked upon them, I thought of the 
time when Jesus was going about in Ju- 
dea and Galilee, and the same kind of 
miserable beings crowded about Him, and 
asked His help in their wretchedness; 
^^and He healed them all." O, if He were 



196 grandmamma's letters. 

only here in Japan, what a great work He 
could do! 

And then I thought, ^^No; the dear] 
Lord is not here in His bodily presence, 
but He is the same loving, pitiful Saviour! 
that He was then, and has the same 
power; and if these poor people only 
knew how to seek His help, He would] 
surely give it'' 

We had not been long on the way be-| 
fore it began to rain, and by the time we 
reached Ashi-no-u, the place of the bath-| 
houses, it just poured, and blew so hard! 
that it was difficult for the poor coolies! 
who were carrying us to keep on their] 
feet. It was the harder for them because! 
all these mountain roads are very nar-| 
row, — only a footpath, — and when aj 
rain-storm comes, they are generally the 
channel, or gutter, through which the 
water can run off; so that the poor fellows 



IN THE RAIN. 1 97 

often could not see where they were step- 
ping, but were obliged to go on blindly, 
setting their feet right in the deep water, 
and often on sharp stones. As they never 
wear any shoes, you can think how hard 
this was. 

As we came near to Kiga, the place 
where our friends were, the rain stopped 
for a little while, for which I was very 
thankful, as then we could have the large 
covering of oiled paper, which prevented 
our looking out over the beautiful country, 
taken off, and we were able to see the 
wonders and grandeur of the mountain 
scenery. 

The road we were on wound round the 
tops of the hills till we came very near to 
Kiga, and then all at once we looked 
down upon the lovely little village, lying 
in a valley five or six hundred feet below 
us; its little straw-thatched cottages em- 



198 grandmamma's letters. 

bowered in the trees; its larger tea-houses, 
with their pleasant verandas; numerous 
mountain torrents, swelled by the pouring 
rain, dashing down in wild but glorious 
beauty among the rocks, — all this formed 
a picture that I never will forget, and the 
enjoyment of that scene, and the pleasant 
welcome we received from our friends, 
helped to take away from my mind the 
sad and painful feelings the sight at Ashi- 
no-u had produced. 

After a good dinner, served in real for- 
eign style, we started to return home; and 
then came my trial with the " Great 
Eastern." 

Once more the rain poured down, as it 
only can, I think, on those mountains, and 
we had to be all covered and ^^ tucked in '' 
with oiled paper, (which, by the way, is 
made here in very large, soft sheets, and 
is used for all such purposes,) to protect 



TROUBLE WITH THE COOLIES. I99 

US from a drenching. Hitherto all had 
gone well with my coolies; but now they 
were to show me the other side; and no 
sooner did we get fairly started, than they 
began: ^^Lady, will you give me a pres- 
ent?'' "This kago very hard." "I am 
very lame." "I cannot go any more." 
And every few moments, setting the kago 
on the ground, and raising the cover, they 
would urge their begging for a " sinjOy^ or 
present. 

I did not like to give them money, for 
Dr. B , who had made all the bar- 
gains with the men, had told me it was 
not wise; and then I did not like to have 
them see that I had a purse with me; but 
as I soon found that I was far behind all 
the rest of the party, I began to feel a 
little nervous. 

So I thought I would try something 
else. First I divided among them a pack- 



200 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

age of crackers; then I tried what prom- 
ises would do. " By-and-by I will give 
you a sinjo^'^ I said; but they would not 
cease, nor go any faster, and I confess I 
did begin to get a little scared, as I found 
that I could no longer hear the call of the 
other coolies, who were now so far awa}^ 
from us. It had become very dark, and 
the rain was coming down as hard as ever. 
Do you wonder if my heart beat a little 
faster than usual, or that I thought it just 
possible there might be some serious 
trouble? But I had learned something of 
the character of these people, who, al- 
though very greedy because so very poor, 
will not often, and then only by some 
great provocation, do any real cruel thing. 
So I tried to keep quiet, and asked my 
dear Father to help me do just what was 
best under all the circumstances. 

They kept on with their importunity, 



RELIEF, 20I 

and at last I opened a basket of peaches 
that I had bought at Kiga^ where the finest 
peaches in Japan grow, and distributed 
them. It went to my heart to see them, 
or rather, hear them — for it was too dark 
to see anything — eating up my beautiful 
peaches, that I had meant for the stay-at- 
home part of our family. 

All this was in vain, however, and I 
had just concluded I must give them 
money, when I saw a great light, and 
heard the shouting of other coolies. The 
rest of the party had reached Hakone, and 
finding that I was not among them, had 
sent their coolies back with some great 
torches, made of bamboo reeds, to find 
and bring my coolies home. 

You may imagine how glad I was; and 
when I reached my little cottage, and we 
all knelt together for our evening prayers, 
I thanked my dear heavenly Father for the 



202 grandmamma's LETTERS. 

pleasure of the day, and for His loving 
care over me in my lonely ride through 
the storm and darkness on the mountains. 
Ever your loving 

Grandmother. 



DEATH OF BABY KITTIE. 2O3 



XXVIL 

Yokohama, June 27, 1875. 
My dear Kittie: 

I have some very sad news for you, 
which I am sure you will be sorry to 
hear. 

The dear little baby, which I named 
after you,* died two days ago. She was 
very sick a long time, and I fear her mother 
was too ignorant about babies to take good 
care of her. I tried to do all I could for 
the little thing, but all the houses in which 
our servants live are some way off on our 
large grounds, and I could not prevent 
the poor foolish mother from doing many 
things that I know were ver}^ hurtful to 
the child. 



204 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

She had grown to be a very pretty and 
cunning baby, and the father and mother 
were so fond of her, that it was a great 
sorrow to them. Yet I am sure it was 
best, because God took her from them, 
and He never makes any mistakes; and 
then it is surely better to be in heaven 
with Jesus, than here in a world of sin 
and suffering. 

I was so glad to hear, the next morn- 
ing, that our good Tokichi called all our 
servants together, just after the baby died, 
and had a long talk with them, telling 
them what the Bible teaches about death 
and the resurrection of the body, and the 
glory and joy of heaven. Then he read 
what Jesus said to Martha and Mary when 
their brother died, and prayed with them. 
Was not that most beautiful in such a 
young Christian as he is, and one so lately 



THE HEATHEN PRIEST. 205 

ignorant of all that our precious Bible 
teaches? 

Yesterday the heathen priest went to 
the house of the belto^ and carried a pic- 
ture of a god, which he put up against 
the side of the room; and then he told the 
father and mother they must pray to it, 
and put before it some rice and tea, and 
then the spirit of little Kittie would very 
soon go to a happy place. 

After he had gone out of the house, the 
belto took the picture down and put it 
in the fire, and said he ^^ never could pray 
to such a thing again.'' 

Mrs. J and I covered a little box, 

and trimmed it nicely; and then I put a 
little white dress on the baby, and laid her 
in the casket we had prepared, with plenty 
of pretty flowers about her. She looked 
so sweet as she lay in her little cofl5n-bed, 
that it seemed very hard to put her away 



2o6 grandmamma's letters. 

in the dark, cold ground; but then we 
know that just as the little seed buried in 
the earth springs up and bears beautiful 
flowers, so that little body will some day 
come up out of the darkness far more love- 
1}^ than when it was laid away there. 

We had the funeral in the school-house, 
and there were more than a hundred 
people and children present. Our school- 
children sang " Around the throne of God 
in heaven," and after the address and 
prayer, the whole congregation joined in 
singing in Japanese, " Nearer, my God, to 
Thee." 

It is so pleasant to feel that by all these 
circumstances our dear children are being 
taught some good lessons. I think little 
Kittie's death will be the means by which 
a good many will learn of a better life in 
heaven, and that we need not be afraid 
to die, if we only love and trust Jesus. 



A BED-ROOM PICTURE. 207 

Are you not glad that there is a Home 
where these poor heathen people and 
children can hear the " good news " ? 

And now I want to tell you and Mar}^, 
and Bertie too^ for I think he worked 
hard for the Fair, as well as the girls, 
that the money you sent me I used to 
buy two little bedsteads, and the beds and 
pillows for them. 

I wish I could draw a picture of the 
room in which they stand. There were 
four little beds in it, but we needed more 
very badly, so now we have them, six in 
all, and two little girls sleep in each one. 
They stand in a square, right in the middle 
of the room, three on one side, and three 
on the other, with the heads together. 
This seems a queer way, perhaps, to you, 
but it gives better air, we think, to all 
the little sleepers, and it is easier to get 
around the room. 



2o8 grandmamma's letters. 

I wish you could see how comfortable 
and cunning they all look. I think 3^ou 
would feel well paid for all your hard 
work for the Fair. 

But now I cannot write any more, only 
to say that I am, just as I always will be, 
Your loving 

Grandma. 



ABOUT THE HOME. 209 



XXVIII. 

Katasi, Japan, August 2, 1875. 
Dear Children : 

Shut up this rainy morning in a little 
Japanese house, with a group of restless 
but playful children about me, it is not 
very easy to write; yet I think I must 
try and have some talk with a few of the 
dear little ones far away in America, who 
are so much interested in our Home and 
children, I can tell them how a part of 
our family are spending a portion of the 
vacation, and what there is here for little 
people to enjoy in a cheap and quiet way. 

I felt sorry for the nine children of our 
family who had no home to go to during 
our vacation, and so, after a good deal of 

H 



2IO GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

thought as to what we could do for them, 
I concluded to go somewhere off in the 
country, where they could have a change 
of air and scene. It was quite a difficult 
thing for me to do, for you know I cannot 
talk Japanese at all, and the people in the 
country know nothing of English. And 
besides, several of these children have 
not yet learned to speak or understand it 
either. However, I felt quite sure our 
dear Father would help me in thus trying 
to give pleasure to others, and He has 
done it wonderfully in so man}^ ways since 
I came away from our Home, that my 
heart is full of praise every hour. I find 
in trying to make others happy I had the 
largest share of blessing myself. 

This place where we are sta3n'ng is on 
the sea-shore, and right opposite, and con- 
nected by a long, sandy beach, or neck, 
washed up b}^ the sea, is the sacred island 



ON THE SEA-SHORE. 211 

of Inoshima. That is a great place of 
resort in the summer, for foreigners and 
pilgrims, who go in great crowds to visit 
the numerous shrines in the island, and 
celebrated cave under it, where there are 
so many gods for them to worship that I 
could not attempt to count them. 

It would not be wise for us to be in 
such a public place 5 but here, in this little 
village, we have all the pleasure of the 
sea-shore, and can walk over to the island 
whenever we desire. I wish I could give 
you a picture of this pretty little Japanese 
house. Not the outside, for that does not 
look very pretty with its unpainted and 
black boards, and heavy straw-thatched 
roof; but the inside part, which we occupy, 
is all new and clean, and so cunning, with 
its nice mats on the floor and white paper 
doors, which slide any way we like, and 
with which we can make our rooms large 



212 GRANDMAMMAS LETTERS. 

or small, just as we choose. Our rooms 
are built apart from the rest of the house, 
and all around them there is a small ve- 
randa. On this and upon the mats in the 
room, people can step with their shoes 
on, and I really think there is nothing our 
children enjoy more than going about here 
barefooted. Is not that just like all chil- 
dren in hot weather? and do you wonder 
that these little ones are glad to do just 
what they always used to do before they 
came to our house, namely, run about bare- 
footed, and sleep on the mats? Well, it 
certainly is nice for a little while in such 
warm weather; but when we get back to 
our own home, it will not be good for those 
whom we hope will become intelligent 
young ladies, and help to teach their peo- 
ple to live a civilized life, like the ladies 
of Christian lands. 

Yesterday we got a boat, and went 



INOSHIMA. 213 

around the island of Inoshima. It is just 
like an immense rock thrown up b}^ some 
terrible earthquake out of the water. Its 
sides are all ragged and broken in a fear- 
ful way, and down near the bottom are 
numberless little caves. We ventured to 
go into but one of these caves, for the 
tide and the currents make it too dan- 
gerous; but in the large one, where the 
shrines for so many gods have been made, 
every one wants to go and see the won- 
derful place; I did not think it safe for 
our little ones to go in, and they were quite 
satisfied to do just what I thought best. 

One day we got a boat, and went along 
up the shore about three miles, to Kama- 
kura, to see the great bronze idol of Dia- 
butz. This is one of the largest and oldest 
idols in the world, and it is one of the 
places where every one who comes to 
Japan alwaj^s desires to go. So you see 



214 grandmamma's letters. 

our children can see a good deal that is 
very interesting^ even in coming to this 
little country village. Every day they go 
down to the beach and bathe in the de- 
lightful surf that rolls in from the great 
Pacific Ocean. The bathing is real fun and 
pleasure for them, and they have always 
been so accustomed to such things, that 
it does not trouble them that there are 
no bath-houses and conveniences for un- 
dressing and dressing. I must say that 
for me it is not pleasant, though I try to 
make a tent of my umbrella beside the 
jinrikisha^ which we take to carry the two 
little ones and the bathing-suits; for the 
sand is so deep that only the larger girls 
can manage to get through it, over the 
hills washed up all along the beach. 

The old man who keeps this house is 
very fond of children, and always goes 
with us and takes care of the little ones; 



FISHING. 2ic; 

and sometimes when I see how happy 
he is with them around him, I think our 
coming here will make a brighter spot in 
his life, as well as theirs. A few days ago 
he fixed up some bamboo rods, and took 
them all out to fish; and though, like many 
wiser and older anglers, they came home 
with very few prizes, yet they were as 
much pleased as if their baskets were 
full. 

I am sure you would be glad to hear 
our little girls sing for these people, and 
I told them that was the very best way for 
them to be little missionaries here. They 
can sing some of our sweet hymns that 
have been translated into Japanese; and 
when I hear them singing, in a language 
those about them can understand, ^^ I am 
so glad that our Father in Heaven," " I 
am Jesus' Little Lamb,'' and so many 
hymns that tell the " sweet story " we love 



2i6 grandmamma's letters. 

so well, I lift up my heart in secret prayer, 
that in this way some seed may be sown 
in this dark place, that will take root and 
bear some fruit for the glory of God. 

In two days more we will go home 
again, and spend the rest of the vacation 
there; but I am sure these dear little girls 
will be better and happier for this visit, 
and I hope you will pray that the peo- 
ple w^ho have heard them sing, and seen 
them kneel every morning and evening 
to pray to the true God, will not forget, 
but desire to know more of our Home 
and the religion we teach there; for this 
is one of the ways in which we hope to 
send out streams of blessing that shall 
reach many corners of this land. 
Ever your loving friend, 

Mary Pruyn. 



GOING HOME. 217 



XXIX. 

Yokohama, August 29, 1875. 
My dear Little Folks at Home : 

I am sitting down to write you a few lines, 
which will be my last letter from Japan. 
Although I long so much to see you, and 
must look forward with joy to the pros- 
pect of being once more in the dear old 
home, yet it is with the keenest pain 
that I have at last decided to leave this 
precious new home.- 

You have heard of my ill health, so long 
continued that it seems now necessary for 
me to go away into some other climate, 
and so I have no choice but to do just 
as the dear Lord directs. 



2i8 grandmamma's letters. 

I cannot write you any more from Ja- 
pan, but I hope the letters I have written, 
and all you have heard about this country 
and our school, have been carefully re- 
membered, and that you will continue to 
feel an interest in the work here. 

You must not think because grand- 
mamma leaves these dear children, you 
can forget them, or cease to do all you 
can for their education. 

This Home and school are now fairly 
established, and God has most wonder- 
fully blessed all our labor here; but if 
this w^ork is to go on, as it surely ought, 
and grow larger and more useful every 
year, then all the dear friends in Amer- 
ica must continue to help it. 

I only send these few lines to tell you 
that I shall expect you to love and work 
for Japan as long as there is anything 
you can do. 



CONCLUSION. 219 

And now, in closing this my last letter 
to the dear little folks, I want them all to 
carry out the sentiment of the following 
sweet lines, which Miss M. G. Brainard 
has, at my request, kindly written expressly 
for them : — 

Lambs of Jesus, guarded, sheltered. 

By the Shepherd good and true, 
Eating of His greenest pasture. 

Drinking in His sweetest dew, — 
There are others 

Who might eat and drink with you. 

Far off on the darkest mountains. 

Little lambs are wandering bold. 
Knowing not there is a shelter. 

Knowing not there is a Fold, 
And a Shepherd 

Who would shield them from the cold. 

Send some word of pity to them. 
Saying to the wanderers, " Come, 

Let our Shepherd be your Shepherd, 
— There can never be but One, — 

Let one Sheepfold 
Be our everlasting Home/' 



Your loving 



Grandmother. 



020 107 933 






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I 

^^ ^" Mil 












